- Apart from eating into your employer’s time by binging on social media during work hours, jeopardizing your image and that of your employer is a real possibility.
- If you represent an organization in any capacity, and use social media and other online means to interface with customers and prospects, you will be wise to resist the temptation to respond to user comments from a personal standpoint, as your personal prejudice, inner feeling and demeanor may actually jeopardize requisite professionalism and put you company in bad light.
By Eric Obwogi.
Ralph was stunned. He staggered, dazed, into the corridor adjoining the company CEO’s office. That the Chief had taken up his case personally was as significant as it was unprecedented. He stared with foreboding the ominous looking brown envelope emblazoned with the company logo, name and address.
In it, Ralph was sure, was the confirmation of what had just transpired in the CEO’s office. It had happened. He was finally out of a job. After several warnings that he never got round to taking seriously, given the camaraderie in the office, his dalliance with and preoccupation with online activity was getting him kicked out of a job that was the envy of his pals and pride of his family. His termination was real and the letter in his hand was ample proof that.
Two weeks earlier, the affable Human Resource Director had called him to her office and cautioned him about the copious amount of time he spent online. Further, he had been reminded that the company had recognized his talent and elevated him to Team Leader, as managers were referred to in the multinational company through whose doors he was now sadly exiting for the last time.
How come he didn’t see this coming? Where had he dropped the ball? The last straw was after he came back from a road trip with members of his department and embarked in earnest on updating his social accounts, in excitement that completely steamrolled any memory he had about the caution he had received about his online antics.
In lurid detail Ralph gave an account of the road trip, the after-work pub hopping and social interactions that ultimately led to extreme behavior under the influence of a tot too many. Moments were captured of course and these found their way to Facebook and twitter.
That triggered the summons to the CEO’s office and the rest is history.
The internet is so crucial to our daily lives now; influencing livelihoods, relationships and governance. It is an indispensable resource for business executives, government and corporate sector and a major determinant or facilitator of interaction between human beings, shrinking the distance across the world to a gadget in the palm of your hand. Furthermore with emerging superfast speeds, the possibilities presented are endless. A near-universal access has online activity dictating the way we live, from the corporate boardroom to the rural bedroom.
A few years ago, few could have imagined the ease with which information would be shared in 2021, mostly with devices that can fit in the pocket. Busy executives can check and respond to emails on the go, read news and close deals and now, bypass, totally, the need for physical meetings in observance of health and safety protocols due to a raging viral pandemic.
And now Tom Njue, a social media consultant, affirms that with all its advantages, enhanced use of social networks in both personal and professional lives can at times take ugly channels. Hidden behind PCs and mobile devices, lurk perverted minds that will damage reputations, hurl insults, express their darkest thoughts “incognito,” and even issue threats.
“Not all change has been good, as the internet has also served to expose the worst side of humanity,” says Tom, who has also worked with Craft Silicon and Seven Seas Technologies.
“The net has also adversely affected the lives of young people who have made costly mistakes and nose-dived careers.
“There are many ways that seemingly fun online interaction can go awry,” continues Tom.
“You can be influential online but not necessarily popular,” he says. “As soon as one posts online, there is a tendency for the post to receive instant online attention, likes, dislikes, shares and comments. This gives one a reason to puff up with pride.”
How much of what you post online would you freely stand in front of people and articulate? Immediately you drop a line you consider apt, it will be shared widely, depending on your following. In many cases, get lots of responses – likes, dislikes shares and comments. This gives the host the intoxicating feeling of popularity.
It is easy to get carried away and forget your responsibility to self, employer and even family.
If you represent an organization in any capacity, and use social networks and other online means to interface with customers and prospects, you will be wise to resist the temptation to respond to user comments from a personal standpoint, as your personal prejudice, inner feeling and demeanor may actually jeopardize requisite professionalism and put you company in bad light.
The end result may be utterly catastrophic to your professional growth prospects, if you remain employed, that is.
According to Tom, there are pointers you can keep in mind to avoid trouble.
There are legal implications to everything you do online. Legislation has been put in place that makes you liable immediately you log onto the internet. Copyright Law, for example, is now widely recognized and relevant to many activities that we engage in online.
When entrusted with management of the company’s accounts on social networks, it will be wise for you to separate your ego and personal issues and anything relevant to your company image. Many websites also collect your information while you are online, if the same falls into third party hands, there is no knowing what it may be used for.
Be careful whom you trust. You are a sitting duck the moment you do. A university don almost killed himself the other day when photos taken during his honeymoon explicitly for private use surfaced online. And his phone couldn’t stop ringing after that.
This kind of betrayal happens often. If you care about your private life remaining private, keep it that way; never put it on the online record!
