DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Introduction


http://www.123rf.com

 

 

Clay Shirky said, "“Our social tools are not an improvement to modern society, they are a challenge to it” (Adams). Since its beginnings, social media has reinvented the nature of human relationships in every way.  Where once we made a phone call or wrote a letter, now we make an all encompassing tweet or status update to inform friends and family on every instance of our lives.  The intimacy that once existed in a select group of companions has been traded for the intimacy of sharing with the entire virtual world.

 

When it comes to employment, social media can impact the way in which employees and their employers interact.  From the recruiting process to employee productivity and relationships between businesses and their customers: social media has taken over. As time goes on, questions about where social media plays a role in the workplace arise.

 

Business owners are facing new challenges when it comes to the use of social media in the workplace including questions of employee privacy, productivity and organizational culture. As a result, more businesses are creating social media policies that protect the interests of the company but may violate the personal rights of employees. Some employers have gone to extremes in the allowance of social media - they have either blocked employees completely or allowed free range of use.  Other employers choose to moderate employee use of social media.  Either way the social media policy is the key effectively informing employees of their responsibilities in the workplace.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.