So, today at work, I received a memo from the dreaded and ambiguous "Corporate". Now I don't know who this Corporate fellow is, but he's a real jackass and a fun sucker. Before I get any further, allow me to say something openly that makes a lot of sense later.
My name is Travis and I work for Radioshack.
Ok, so I received this memo, which contained some stuff about stuff, the boring crap I glance over as per usual. Then one section's title caught my attention: Social Media Policy. "Huh, weird," I thought. I figured it would be about using social networking and blog sites at work. Nope. It was about using social networking in your own personal life. It starts with a fun definition of social media, calling Twitter a micro-blog. Then it says that of course it's all on your own personal time, even if you're going to post, Tweet, vlog, blog (AHEM), etc. That's fine, though I'd love to get paid to blog (again, AHEM!). Here was the scary part: They will be "monitoring all publicly posted content". The fun part was that my first reaction was "Thanks, RadioShack! I needed new posting material!"
It then continues to give some vague and brief guidelines on what kind of work-related posting I should be doing. Well expecting me to be "helpful, respectful, [and] smart" is fine, but I'm not sure I can manage the cleverly bolded "positive". I'm totally cool with saying don't post proprietary info, like if I knew the release date of a product before it were announced I shouldn't make that publicly available. But to try to tell me how I should talk about my company on my own website on my own time is ridiculous. And counter-productive, because here I am making this publicly seen bash.
To be fair, RadioShack guy who is hopefully "review[ing this] in accordance with... employee policies", you're not the only company who thinks they can pretend to be the beloved Big Brother. Many companies have started perusing Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace to decide on who to hire. I assume they search MySpace because it's a good way to determine who's 13 or under. The problem is, this is a legal gray area. On the one hand, the individual is putting out this information willingly, and if they don't close it to the public and allow Professional Facebook Stalkers to view their drunken pictures, it's their fault. But on the other hand, is Corporate America trying to invade our private life now?
It comes down to this: At the very moment I'm writing this, they are not paying me. They hold no accountability for my actions. If they couldn't be held liable for any criminal activities I may be involved in, or if they wouldn't cover any injuries through workman's comp, they shouldn't be able to use anything I do against me. Is it a smart idea to release a caustic editorial on a company you want to stay with for some time? Probably not. But how about you let me decide whether or not I tell the world how much I think you suck, RadioShack?
Human nature is complicated. I agree that in social network all people thinks differently.Very informative blog about social network.
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