has anyone had their work try to influence their social netw

fionarama
fionarama Posts: 788 Member
edited November 11 in Chit-Chat
my work has just sent out an email telling us we all have to have a Linkedin profile by a certain date, created to their criteria. And they even encourage us to use facebook in the name of work.
the statement reads "whilst xx company has no objection to you using social networking for our own personal interests" bla bla.

its just incredible, I just wonder if anyone else has experienced their companies trying to influence their personal social networking at all for their own gain?

Replies

  • fionarama
    fionarama Posts: 788 Member
    bump
  • hapoo100
    hapoo100 Posts: 926 Member
    honestly, this just seems wrong. Linkedin is possibly ok, but facebook too? "Social Media" is not work media. Im just sayin
  • ScatteredThoughts
    ScatteredThoughts Posts: 3,562 Member
    What is their justification for this requirement? It seems like a bad idea to me. Social networks are not known for privacy policies which favor the desires of their members.
  • dubw
    dubw Posts: 429
    Closest I ever came was when I was told where to live to be close to certain influential people.
  • lorro
    lorro Posts: 917 Member
    Re Facebook: That sends out really bad signals about the boundary between work and home life, ie they seem to think there isn't one! It puts you in the position where you either have to be professional in your own time or you may risk charges of unprofessional conduct that could reflect badly on your employer. In my line of work it's the opposite. If I mix the two (professional and social networking) I'd get fired.
  • stacygayle
    stacygayle Posts: 349 Member
    All social media is blocked at my work.....MFP is the only thing I can use probably because they haven't figured it out yet
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    Nothing saying you can't have a personal and a professional facebook page. I know LOTS of people who have multiples, and that way they can rest assured that personal pictures will not be (quite so easily) seen by professional "friends"
  • _Timmeh_
    _Timmeh_ Posts: 2,096 Member
    Nope. In fact Facebook and LinkedIn are both blocked at my work.
  • MrsCon40
    MrsCon40 Posts: 2,351 Member
    We are not allowed to put where we work on Facebook. LinkedIn can only have our name, title and tenure.
  • JDMPWR
    JDMPWR Posts: 1,863 Member
    This sounds really iffy, unless this was specified upon employment they should really have no right to dictate to you how and where you use your Facebook and LInkedIn accounts.
  • HeidiRene
    HeidiRene Posts: 335 Member
    Can you say who you work for? I am so curious! Or, at least what kind of work you do. Never heard of such a request. I do communication/marketing work and I have certainly asked employee to use social media to promote an organization; however, it was always a request (you know share this link or invite friends to like this page etc) and absolutely not required. I do a lot of work for non-profits and most employees are mission driven and want to support the org on their personal FB pages. I find your employer's demands bizarre and over the top.
  • minnesota_deere
    minnesota_deere Posts: 232 Member
    my work has just sent out an email telling us we all have to have a Linkedin profile by a certain date, created to their criteria. And they even encourage us to use facebook in the name of work.
    the statement reads "whilst xx company has no objection to you using social networking for our own personal interests" bla bla.

    its just incredible, I just wonder if anyone else has experienced their companies trying to influence their personal social networking at all for their own gain?

    must be a company that is geared towards retail, real estate companies and mortgage firms are doing this.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    I would set up the account on company time, and I would only use it for work. If I wanted an account personally I would set up a different one.

    I am on the social media team at my company and the only thing we have done is send out a general email saying the facebook page was up and running and we'd appreciate people liking the page.
  • DeeJayTJ
    DeeJayTJ Posts: 355 Member
    social networking is becoming a very common thing in business. but it should not be a mandatory thing and it shouldn't be done by individual employees either.
  • velix
    velix Posts: 437 Member
    LinkedIn is not so much as "social" networking tool as a professional networking tool - it's purpose (at its foundation) is professional networking for companies, those looking for work, and often treated like a "phone book" in some fields.

    But then, Facebook started out as an academic network that eventually expanded to the general public (kind of like costco/sam's club lol).

    I don't see anything wrong with it as long as you can control the information you input - if you are allowed to enter only work / company related information, and nothing more personal than your first and last name. Also, I would inquire as to why they want / are obliging you to use the site (in particular, and generally).

    As someone who teaches university, we have asked students to make profiles on internal sites, but for some of the courses I've taught, students were also required to make Facebook profiles and start blogs - but then , I teach in the field of Sociology and New Media....

    In the end, if they require you to make a profile that extends beyond work information, I would at least ask a lot of questions.
  • HeidiRene
    HeidiRene Posts: 335 Member
    LinkedIn is not so much as "social" networking tool as a professional networking tool - it's purpose (at its foundation) is professional networking for companies, those looking for work, and often treated like a "phone book" in some fields.

    But then, Facebook started out as an academic network that eventually expanded to the general public (kind of like costco/sam's club lol).

    I don't see anything wrong with it as long as you can control the information you input - if you are allowed to enter only work / company related information, and nothing more personal than your first and last name. Also, I would inquire as to why they want / are obliging you to use the site (in particular, and generally).

    As someone who teaches university, we have asked students to make profiles on internal sites, but for some of the courses I've taught, students were also required to make Facebook profiles and start blogs - but then , I teach in the field of Sociology and New Media....

    In the end, if they require you to make a profile that extends beyond work information, I would at least ask a lot of questions.

    I just got my masters in communication and of course I had to create websites/profiles/blogs etc...requiring a student is vastly different that requiring an employee IMO.
  • HeidiRene
    HeidiRene Posts: 335 Member
    I am on the social media team at my company and the only thing we have done is send out a general email saying the facebook page was up and running and we'd appreciate people liking the page.
    [/quote]

    I support that request 100%
  • JustLindaLou
    JustLindaLou Posts: 376 Member
    We are prohibited from anything work-related on FB, and it annoys the crap out of me when my FB friends try to solicit advice via FB (or texting me) rather than on my work # during business hours. I am FB friends with my boss and co-workers, therefore careful what I say on FB (not so careful here cuz MFP is only for ME and I only have 2 RL friends on MFP). Former company had all social networks blocked on the office computers, and strict guidelines about what you could or could not say on your personal or professional pages. (ie, okay to state profession/title but no recommendations, solicitations, etc.) (my current job is with insurance, formerly with investment company)
  • velix
    velix Posts: 437 Member
    I just got my masters in communication and of course I had to create websites/profiles/blogs etc...requiring a student is vastly different that requiring an employee IMO.
    _____ (quoted above - I messed up the command - oops!) _____________

    But if linked in is used as a corporate/business networking site - as it is (was) intended in its inception, is there no room for compromise if the only information the employee is asked to share is work related (ie: position, extension, etc). the basic sign up requires very minimal information.

    As a faculty and research center member, I am obliged to be signed up in a few places tied to social networking for professional purposes. In my field, it is the norm. In the end though, I still believe that I would have to know the reason and what are the opt-out options, etc. before making a fully rational decision on the matter.
  • bluevwgurl
    bluevwgurl Posts: 220 Member
    H&R Block gives us "acceptable" posts for on facebook and the like. And the office I work at tells us to post one of the "acceptable ones" fairly often.
  • Micheller1210
    Micheller1210 Posts: 460 Member
    Most of your networking sites also use face recognition software, as do your mall They want to know who there customers are and there habits.
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