Facebook has taken over the world. It now has over 500 million users. One of every thirteen people on earth now
post to the network. 50% of its users
check Facebook as soon as they get up in the morning. Over 700 billion minutes per month are spent
on Facebook. It has so suddenly become
a dominating factor in our culture that leaders in the workplace are panicky to
develop policies to control the beast.
It is a trick to apply policy while policy is still evolving.
Many
are seeking direction from the National Labor Relations Board to help them
fight the Facebook battle. A labor law
passed in 1935 known as the Wagner Act allows workers to gather and discuss
conditions in their workplace. This law
protects them if they want to complain and organize others for the purpose of
improving the working environment.
If
it is evident that the intent is constructive and there is dialogue regarding
the issues at the workplace then the workers are likely covered by law and they
can take liberties granted by the freedom of speech provision of the first
amendment. If they are not dialoguing and they simply go on a rant about their
boss or their workplace they may find themselves jobless. Verbal threats against the boss or coworkers
can earn you a pink slip. Employers may
have great difficulty determining the variations in the meaning of the word
'jerk' and just how harmful that word is.
Most employers are not going to give a critical employee the benefit of
the doubt.
The
employer must take great care in making a judgment about the activity the
employee is participating in. If the
employee is discussing wages and working conditions with other employees on-line
then this behavior is covered by the Wagner Act. If the employee is expressing his own
personal gripe and revealing a chip on his shoulder his employer may be within
his rights to ask for his termination.
It is hard to draw the line regarding how much and what kind of negativity
is protected by law. If an employee used
a work-place computer to voice his complaints is he still protected?
Many
social network users don't seem to grasp just what the public domain really
is. Some think the information they
submit goes only to a select group of friends and any other who reads their
posts are really not interested. High
school students need to be aware that it is a common practice of college
registrars to check Facebook activity and personal profiles before sending out
acceptance letters. If you are applying
for a job it is likely that the organization will dig up any digital dirt
you've left lying around on your social networks.
Carelessness
can leave you in the unemployment line. A
local man who worked at Bruster's Ice Cream was angered by his boss. He texted his frustrations to another
employee using some language to describe his boss that is unsuitable for print. His boss called him shortly after and fired
him. He had accidently sent the message
to his boss rather than his co-worker.
Nucleas
Research, an IT research company, conducted a survey that showed that 77% of
workers access Facebook from work. Activity
on social networks results in an average reduction in productivity of
1.5%. (Computer World, July, 2009) If a company exists on a 2 % margin of
profit, blocking Facebook may make or break the company. A study at Ohio State
University found that students who use Facebook get lower grades than those who
do not.
Several
years ago Horace Mann, a private high school for many of New York's elite, was
the focus of a social networking scandal.
A student had sent an inappropriate picture of herself to her boyfriend
who in turn eagerly forwarded the picture to his friends. The female student seemed to be ignorant of
just how trustworthy her boyfriend was and how quickly something like that
could go viral on the internet. She suffered
greatly for her indiscretion.
Employees,
students and other Facebook participants must continually remind themselves
that posting on Facebook is not like writing in your private diary, its more like
posting on a billboard located on an interstate highway.
Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.
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