Day: June 14, 2009

The Wall Street Journal sent out a memo to its staffers some time back outlining rules around the use of social media like Facebook, Twitter etc. For instance the journalists now need to take approval of editors before “friending” a confidential source on Facebook or Twitter. These ground rules should guide all news employees’ actions online, whether on official sites or in social-networking, e-mail, personal blogs, or other sites outside. This has thrown up a debate among bloggers and social media enthusiasts who are divided on two sides of the argument. If the employee were to spread positive stories about the employer on their social network is that OK? What if the employee were to spread stories about a bad manager or blow the whistle about a wrongdoing in case of a publicly held company? Is it wrong if the employee does the social media thingy during office hours and using the company’s network and laptop to generally vent to the world at large? Should the employer monitor such tweets or blog posts? There are firms who spy on employee behavior on Facebook and other social networks for a living. What if the person blogs or tweets under an assumed name and then conveys an opinion on his or her network, is that morally wrong or legally? Should the investor have a heads up about issues that may impact the stock price? The social media has given the power to every employee, citizen or passerby a chance to have their opinion published at the touch of a button. Along with this opportunity comes responsibility and the debate about the evolving roles of the players. If you think I am talking only about Corporations think again. there are countries like China that worry about what their citizens are Tweeting about. Youtube service goes down if there is objectionable content. Recently when two employees of the Dominos Pizza posted a prank video on youtube, it put a massive dent in the goodwill of the company. (more…)