Workplace Policies and Ethics of Social Media

The outbreak of social media has been a double edged sword for businesses. On one hand, social media can be an excellent marketing tool to help businesses of all sizes grow. But because employees have social media accounts, there is great potential for Public Relations nightmares. Another PR issue is the fast and permanent nature of social media. 

The concern for bad PR over social media is enough to prompt some companies to make policies regarding their employees’ use of social media. The American Institute of Architects (http://www.aia.org/about/AIAB083034) outlines their policy on their website: 

“Being able to share your and the AIA’s activities without prior management approval means the Institute trusts you to understand that by doing so you are accepting a higher level of risk for greater rewards. Each AIA staff member is personally responsible for the content he or she publishes on any form of social media. Be thoughtful about how you present yourself in online social networks.”

It seems pretty vague but I think it stands as an important reminder to employees that what they post online reflects on the company. And in today’s world, where many of the incoming workforce has a strong media presence, these reminders are becoming even more needed.

A study done by Dr. Patricia J. Harned of the Ethics Resource Center (http://mashable.com/2012/03/17/social-media-ethics/) suggested that employees who use social media are more likely to be relaxed in other instances of questionable moral activity. Her findings are shown in the graphic below.

Those statistics would seem a little scary to me as an employer. I would like to think I am just as high ethical standards as an employee who does not use social media but it seems like the lines become a little blurred for social media gurus. 

I think this may be because active social media users are used to the free flow of information. We are exposed to more raw opinions of our peers and colleagues on Twitter and Facebook so we are more accepting of it as an ethical practice. We exchange information and intellectual property, legally or not, more than those who are not actively using social media. It is just interesting to see social media's influence on our ethical standards.