Why do evil HR types get the heebie jeebies when it comes to allowing access to social media?
All you need to know is the Twitter message below… More comments after the jump, once this one soaks in a bit…
Now, the guy who twittered this is probably a great employee. Sure, stuff like this can happen via email, but it generally doesn't anymore – we're all coached up about email to a greater extent. Social Media just has a casual feel at this point. You riff a little twitter message for a ha/ha, and the next thing you know you are the lead article at Valleywag….
Social media is casual, and casual comments = liability. That's why most grown-up HR and Legal departments kill it like the roach scurrying across the floorboards.
Of course, creativity and community also equal innovation and revenue. The white-paper is still under construction for that argument, however. Companies know what liability costs… So guess what wins?
I don't agree with killing it, but….I'm just sayin…..
Boy, is this timely. I do alot of business type work on Twitter but was being flip with a recruiting acquaintance and he emailed me to let me know that he found the exchange funny and wanted to put in his blog……..Luckily, when people see it they’ll know who I’m chatting with and that he’s just “like” that….
But I will be thinking carefully what I tweet…
Kelly
dang… i don’t know if i’d call that tweet an “oops” moment… looks more to me like one of twitter’s own called his/her colleagues out on the carpet.
but besides liability, obviously, there’s the perception (and reality) that social media is a stinking productivity killer. just sayin’…
What is the difference between speaking a comment like this aloud in a crowded room and saying it on Twitter? You can block access to Twitter, unless of course your employees are the 2 or 3 in Silicon Valley with cell phones.
Blocking tools that have business purposes (not every site does, and a case needs to be made for it if a lot of time is spent online) ultimately lead to a social media blindness that can do more harm then good. If HR blocks Twitter at the firewall, then as a recruiter, I’ll be sure to search Twitter for your employees, as those on the service might want a freer workplace.
At some point, education and treating people like adults is going to register as more important than locking employees in soundproof rooms without computers.