REPLY ALL...and Other Ways to Tank Your Career: A Guide to Workplace Etiquette by Richie Frieman

Author:Richie Frieman [Frieman, Richie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Business & Economics, Business Etiquette, Self-Help, Personal Growth, Success, Personal Success
ISBN: 9781466843141
Google: OsbuERWnTQcC
Publisher: St.Martin's
Published: 2013-09-17T20:57:28+00:00

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FIVE

Social Media at Work

Hey, watch who you’re poking (and liking)!

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Like it or not, we’re being watched 24/7. There’s a smartphone trained on us constantly. A youthful indulgence quickly goes viral. Social media and the wired world also make us all ambassadors of our brand.

—Andrew Buerger, cofounder of B’more Organic

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Each morning millions wake up to see what their 3,000 closest friends on Facebook have done since last night. Did someone get a new job? Get engaged? “Like” that photo you posted the other day? We can’t help ourselves. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+ have all become a huge part of our everyday life. You can’t avoid it, and in fact, a day without social media seems … odd, disjointed and, dare I say it, lost. It’s like cake without icing, sporting events without drunken fans, or a bar mitzvah without “Gangnam Style.” And with all the attention we put on social media, we have a hard time separating our real world from our digital world.

Navigating social media is a gradual learning process and so is how you use social media in the office. These days, potential employers often check out your Facebook page before extending that offer for the job or promotion. Even if you nailed the interview and had them practically cracking open the bottle of Champagne before you left, one quick look on your Facebook page could have all of that crumbling down.

Why? Oh, that’s right, your old college friend just posted those championship party pictures where you’re hanging from the top of a goal post—wearing only your underwear and a smile—as a squad of police officers wait for you at the bottom. Now, if that doesn’t scream “Employee of the Month” I don’t know what does.

Every workplace has its own interpretation of what is acceptable use of social media. Some embrace it and allow employees to do whatever they like at all times, while others block the sites behind a firewall and totally ban access to social media during work hours. Even if you work on social media as your job, the way you conduct yourself now that you are in a professional setting is drastically different from how you could prior to setting foot inside the office. Unfortunately, a lot of what you consider “fun” has to be reevaluated as you move forward in your professional career. Whereas your main priority in your social life was making sure all those “friends” knew your every thought and action throughout the day, in the business world if you want to be treated like a professional, you have to manage your social network wisely.

Don’t get me wrong—you can still post that hilarious party photo or the smart-ass comment about your friend that you can’t resist, but you do have to step back and consider the consequences. That picture of you streaking across the parking lot last New Year’s Eve while holding a bottle of tequila? Maybe not the best display of professionalism. Same thing goes for how you represent yourself on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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