Friday, April 6, 2012

Facebook in the Workplace

The whole bloody world is on Facebook. I am. This blog is. My other blogs are. My company is. Almost everyone I know is, and most of their kids are too. Hell, even some of their pets are.

People seem obsessed with sharing everything. For instance:



Excellent movie, by the way.

The problem is though, that once you put something on the internet, it's there. Forever. Someone saw it, they now know, for better or worse.

Some years back, Facebook was banned from most offices because people were doing a lot of goofing off. Lately, I've been removing said ban from a lot of firewalls and content filters because now, lots of companies are finding it beneficial to have facebook pages for marketing reasons.

It seems to me that there's a big "If you can't beat em, join em" movement. Sure, they can block facebook at the corporate level, but everyone has the internet on their phones now anyway. If they're hell bent of fucking around on Facebook, they're going to do it one way or another. If they're going to be therethere, you should be to. If you can't stop them, at least you can shove your product in their face.

Still though, as a company do you really think it's smart to associate with your employees when they could be saying some pretty stupid things? Do you really want the world to know that the guy who has a picture of himself flipping off the camera is your employee?

"We're Good day sunshine day care! Find us on facebook! Pay no attention to the fact that the page admin's name is "David 'Bluntman' Smith" and his information says his interest is hookers and beer."

How do you feel about this? What's your company's stance?


24 comments:

  1. Interesting...I think companies should continue looking at the big potential in facebook, regardless of its down sides

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  2. I can't seem to get to grips with Facebook, I'm more into Twitter, and I note more companies are using it these days.

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    1. Maria, Twitter is big too, especially if you're trying to build a brand.

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  3. Yup we all are on Facebook, every department of our cooperation....lol

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    1. Tina, were there rules and regulations with regard to using the site for the firm or anything?

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  4. Funny clip! Coke Zero is big news for some people.


    Uh oh. I see your Word Verification (WV) is still on. I'm on a mission to rid the world of this unnecessary evil frustration! Please stop by my blog and select the How To Turn Off Your Word Verification tab and help make the world a better place one blog at a time.

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    1. Hi Stephen, Sorry bout that, this is my third blog in the challenge. I thought I got them all, but apparently not. Thanks!

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  5. i teach so they will lift the ban off when hell freezes over. FB is used by clubs, orgs, sports, teachers, i'm friends with my principal on FB and still its blocked. of course, it's only blocked for the grown-ups because the kids are tied to their smart phones and know how to get around the firewalls. i feel it should be unblocked and we should teach the proper use of FB and other social networks and then you wouldn't have the pic of the guy flipping off the camera.

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    1. I agree with you Stephanie, and I think eventually it will be allowed. Sort of like the big to-do about the nurse giving out condoms. You know they are going to do it, you might as well arm them properly.

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  6. I talked to a friend today who says her company actually employs someone for 12 hours a week just to sort out their Facebook, Twitter and blog stuff!

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    1. Lizy, this is a job that I think I could live with! lol

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  7. Everyone is on Facebook while at work. It's how we know what is going on!! lol
    Giggle, Laugh, Cry

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    1. Too true Kerrie, I almost always know important things first via facebook. Births, deaths, birthdays, etc. Plus it's much easier to post news once, instead of having to call dozens of people!

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  8. I have found in my experience it is best for small businesses to create an account specifically for their Facebook presence. This avoids having to link up with their owner's account and any interesting pictures/links which are on there.

    *~ MAJK ~*
    Twitter: @Safireblade
    A to Z Blog Challenge

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  9. I have two facebook accounts, one private, one not so private with my author pages on that one. Then, there are my 4 emails, 2 twitter accounts, pinterest, goodreads (I could go on for another 20 or so). Social media such as facebook has become a way of life. It scares me to think about the future generations who won't want to go to work downtown because they can do the same thing from home off their computers.
    Luckily I'm self-employed so I don't have to think what the company sees. I am the company. (that doesn't mean I can be careless on fb thought)

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  10. though, that last word was supposed to be though
    sorry:)

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    1. Hello Marta, I too have several accounts in most social media sites! I have 5 blogs in total, each with it's own gmail account, each with it's own twitter account, and facebook page... It's exhausting!

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  11. Maybe because I'm old, (even though I use FB) I'm not glued. I love that and a hundred other things about me. :)

    Teresa

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  12. Facebook passwords. Now some employeers are demanding them as part of the employment package. Think I would be fighting that; it's the same as employers requiring the key to your house. As an IT guy, what do you think of this recent controversy?
    BTW - my brother is an IT guy and love his storys.
    Visiting from A-to-Z.
    Http://msmousecleanshouse.wordpress.com

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  13. "Some years back, Facebook was banned from most offices because people were doing a lot of goofing off. Lately, I've been removing said ban from a lot of firewalls and content filters because now, lots of companies are finding it beneficial to have facebook pages for marketing reasons."

    This exact thing happened at my company around 2009. Just when all the 50 year old ladies were freaking about about this thing called Facebook and how you could play Farmville all day, our work closed it out, only to look like marginal toadies six months later when an email sent out from the president asking for us to "like" our company page. Oh yeah, oops. It's blocked. Now, no longer.

    I'm more of a twitter gal myself once my facebook feed turned into probes from my parents and half my girl friends changed their profile pic to a sonogram, I was pretty much out.

    And I never friend work people on facebook unless they are actually my friends.

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  14. Everything has its pros and cons. I suppose Facebook is no different.

    Sometimes , I can't believe what is exposed by people on face book. It does seem to be a place to just expose your dirty laundry.

    I suppose its just the generation; television reveals just about anything these days and the generation simply follows in the footsteps of what it is exposed to.

    It depends on who your friends are on Facebook; I only choose those that are in my age group and like for the most part to keep it clean; I don't mind fun and a good laugh but really, why do I need to know every detail of your life on the internet.

    Facebook is a great way to connect; so in that sense I think its great for businesses and friends.

    Technology is great; just depends on how you use it and what you use if for.

    If I knew there was a chance of my boss or someone else seeing me on Facebook that I didn't want to know my business outside of work, or anywhere else, why would I expose what, I didn't want known; that's nutty. There are people however that just never think that the world is really small and you never know who your going to run into.

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  15. Following from A to Z...I don't know...maybe it was the "Grumpy" part of your blog title that did it. I know that I get grumpy pretty much every time I use the computer.

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