Online Conduct and Employment

[JustAlex1997]

I've always been told that employers are very strict about what their employees say/do online, and I've done my best to remain fairly PG (hell, I don't even swear that much online). However, few others seem to do the same. Short of saying/doing anything massively offensive, you seem to be fine.

Have I been believing an exaggeration?

 

[Valryth]

I do not know if I am in the right when it comes to this, but just how much knowledge do our employers get from us online in the first place? Places such as Facebook where we use our real names make sense, but would they ever even be able to see our FAF activity for example?

 

[JustAlex1997]

I do not know if I am in the right when it comes to this, but just how much knowledge do our employers get from us online in the first place? Places such as Facebook where we use our real names make sense, but would they ever even be able to see our FAF activity for example?

Unless you gave out your real identity on it, there's no reason to assume they'd go out of their way to find out. I'm more referring to people on Twitter (for example) simply being themselves as opposed to trying to "represent what the business stands for" (whether it's discussing their political views, following adult accounts, and so on).

 

[Valryth]

Unless you gave out your real identity on it, there's no reason to assume they'd go out of their way to find out. I'm more referring to people on Twitter (for example) simply being themselves as opposed to trying to "represent what the business stands for" (whether it's discussing their political views, following adult accounts, and so on).

Oh right, this makes a lot of sense!

Well, I think that this really depends on the person. A lot of people end up being "forgiven" because of their social media status, even if they then use it to talk about things that could be considered outrageous. Our perception of people on social networks is actually very interesting, there are a lot of psychological phenomena at play and I think that we're still at a time where our notion of these things is very reduced. (Which is also why fields of expertise like marketing are a thing!)

That said, I probably won't be able to give you a proper answer! But I'm interested to see what everyone else comes up with on this thread.

 

[Marius Merganser]

I would think a potential employer is going to look you up before hiring you, but I suspect most employers generally aren't monitoring your social media feeds after you've been hired. I can't imagine a business paying someone to spend the time to do so. However I would also suspect that if someone does post something highly offensive even with their own personal account, using their own devices, during non-business hours, and the public finds out where you work, that person will likely be terminated.

Even though I'm usually PG-13, I never use my real ID online but that's more for security reasons than anything else.

 

[JustAlex1997]

I'm aware that the obvious things can get you in trouble. My question is about the stuff that's less obvious. Any employer will fire someone if they're caught posting racist rants online, but what about the things that are simply spicier than they'd want to be associated with?

 

[Frank Gulotta]

I'm aware that the obvious things can get you in trouble. My question is about the stuff that's less obvious. Any employer will fire someone if they're caught posting racist rants online, but what about the things that are simply spicier than they'd want to be associated with?

Who would want to work for puritans anyway, or use failbook to begin with?

 

[Marius Merganser]

Again, I don't think most business are monitoring it at all, but if they are, then that would probably depend on how prudish the managers are and how clear the association of your account is with the employer. I suppose it might also depend on how public-facing your role is.

 

[JustAlex1997]

Again, I don't think most business are monitoring it at all, but if they are, then that would probably depend on how prudish the managers are and how clear the association of your account is with the employer. I suppose it might also depend on how public-facing your role is.

That makes sense. Thank you.

 

[JustAlex1997]

Who would want to work for puritans anyway, or use failbook to begin with?

Not everyone has much of a choice with that first one.

 

[Frank Gulotta]

Not everyone has much of a choice with that first one.

Indeed, there looks to be a pretty severe moral panic going on. One more reason not to use failbook or twatter!

 

[Herdingcats]

When I think about it, it's sad (and disturbing) that employers appear to have that much control over the employees even outside of work.

 

[MaelstromEyre]

It really depends on your job, and your employer. It also depends on whether or not you make your social media open and accessible, and whether you include information about your place of employment for the public to see.

The best option is to simply not include employment information in your personal profile. It makes it harder for them to find you, and they can't say you're being a poor representative of the company if you're not even saying you work for them.

It's also important to research potential employers during the application process. Look them up on sites, see reviews, get an idea of their company values and how strictly they are enforced. Sometimes company owners like to extend their personal beliefs to their employees and expect everyone to have the same "values" even in their private lives.

 

[Kinare]

Facebook or places where you may drop personal information enough that they can connect to you easily (even if it's using an email they may know you have) can, in some cases, hurt employment. If you don't leave any traces of your real self online, then you can pretty much get away with whatever.

After I had my personal info dropped due to a troll on a site I moderated on, I learned a hard lesson on how easy it is to connect real life to online life. I have since removed such traces and I'd wager no one IRL that isn't super close to me could find me. It'd be even harder for online only people to find out real life info about me without being a moderator or admin, then in that case they get my IP address, but that doesn't necessarily mean much either.

 

[rekcerW]

I've always been told that employers are very strict about what their employees say/do online, and I've done my best to remain fairly PG (hell, I don't even swear that much online). However, few others seem to do the same. Short of saying/doing anything massively offensive, you seem to be fine.

Have I been believing an exaggeration?

No, I've watched several people get fired for sharing shit on social media that they shouldn't. It's easy enough to manage your public profile so that looky-loos can't just sift through it, and you should anyways, no random fuckhead should be able to look you up and know what you were up to yesterday or a week ago.

 

[Sally Mills]

well,this is the real truth. My boss doesn't allow me anything at work!

 

[Frank Gulotta]

Remembered something funny. One boss I had kept adding my coworkers on facebook to check that they weren't on it during work hours (allegedly), since she wasn't often in the office. She mustv'e been a bit confused not to find me anywhere. There's someone famous with my first and last name, but it's not me. Never got followed by my boss :C

 

[Borophagus Metropolis]

First step in hiring process is throw away the resume. Second step is find the candidate's Fasebook.

 

[Marius Merganser]

Remembered something funny. One boss I had kept adding my coworkers on facebook to check that they weren't on it during work hours (allegedly), since she wasn't often in the office. She mustv'e been a bit confused not to find me anywhere. There's someone famous with my first and last name, but it's not me. Never got followed by my boss :C

Why not just turn on the firewall's content filter?

 

[Frank Gulotta]

Why not just turn on the firewall's content filter?

I prefer not having facebook at all!

 

[Deleted member 134556]

First step in hiring process is throw away the resume. Second step is find the candidate's Fasebook.

That feeling when your sex life and politics matter more to employers than your work history and education.

 

[Sir Thaikard]

If they want to get rid of you they'll find any reason to do so.

Social media just give them more ammo with which to work.

 

[Marius Merganser]

I prefer not having facebook at all!

I used it for about 2 months years ago. I really couldn't care less what people I never talked to in high school were having for dinner.

 

[Frank Gulotta]

I used it for about 2 months years ago. I really couldn't care less what people I never talked to in high school were having for dinner.

Plus it's a spying tool for advertizers and your boss

 

[Marius Merganser]

Plus it's a spying tool for advertizers and your boss

Everything is a spying tool for advertisers.
I work for a managed services company; you'd be surprised what can be acquired from a corporate client computer without every physically touching it.