With the tremendous growth in popularity with social networking sites like Facebook, a few issues have developed with the interaction of personal and business worlds. I always thought that it is best to keep these two worlds separate, but is it realistic to do so?
Here are a few examples of how these two worlds collide. Businesses are now creating company fan pages and are reaching out to their employees to become fans and friends. Managers and colleagues are becoming Facebook friends with their employees. Companies are researching potential employees on Facebook as a form of background checking on their candidates. And last but not least, employees are using Facebook to communicate with colleagues at other companies as they conduct their business throughout the work day.
So, can any of these lead to trouble? The short answer is yes.
Imagine after a fun night out with friends, the following day some inappropriate pictures are posted to Facebook. While these types of pictures may be fine for your friends to view, it is not necessarily something that you want your employer or work colleagues to see. Inappropriate photos can change the way people think of you at work.
There have been many stories where employers catch their workers in a lie after coming across photos and status updates on Facebook. For example, I heard a story where someone called in sick to work and then pictures of her at a party that day later appeared on Facebook. As you can imagine, this did not go over well with her manager who saw these photos because they were Facebook friends. Keep in mind that pictures do not need to be posted by you, and may become visible onine if a friend posts a picture online and tags you without your knowledge. And remember, once a photo is posted online, it could potentially live on forever.
So what can you do to separate your personal life from your business life?
The good news is that there ways to protect your privacy on Facebook. The bad news is that nothing is foolproof in our age of hackers. Keep in mind that these steps can minimize what people can access about you online, but they will not totally eliminate all risk since photos or videos may be visible to others if your friends choose to make the images public.
In reality we all do stupid things that could come back to bite us in the future, but the best way to prevent embarrassing items from showing up on Facebook, is to not make bad judgments in your personal life. It is best to be aware of your privacy settings on Facebook and what your friends may be publishing about you online.
First, you should separate your list of friends into two categories for work colleagues and true friends. You should remove yourself from Facebook and Google search results and minimize photo tagging by selecting the option that only allows you to view these photos. You should also reduce the number of people who can view the posts on your wall and who has access to your list of friends.
While you may not want to configure all of the privacy settings outlined, simply knowing how to do so is a great step in the right direction. By following the settings listed above, you are well on your way to an embarrassment free future on Facebook!
Stay tuned for my next blog about How Should Companies Handle Facebook in the Workplace…
