It's possible you've heard the stories. People being fired because of a Facebook post or a picture in their photo album. An employer requesting someone's username and password so they can go through their online profile. Or maybe you personally found out you weren't asked in for an interview because the company you applied to hacked your facebook account and didn't like what they found.
There is a lot of confusion regarding social media tools and the role they should or should not play in our employment today. Some people wrongly think they are untouchable and that an employer does not have legal grounds on which to fire someone because of facebook, and their assumption comes back to haunt them. While what is considered right or wrong, okay or a violation of our rights is being further explored by the courts there are a few things that have already been settled and that we should all keep in mind.
1) Social media is seen by the law as just that, SOCIAL media. What you post on facebook or a blog is not considered private material because it was not shared in confidence. It was shared on a public platform. Want to argue that your privacy settings are cranked up so that only your friends can see what you post? How many friends do you have on facebook? If you stood at the front of a room filled with those people and said what you wrote online could that legitimately be considered a private conversation? The courts say no.
2) Your rights of free speech do not mean that you can say whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want, to whoever you want. There are limitations that are already controlled by the government and that carry penalties for violation. There are prohibitions regarding fighting words (inciting hatred or violence) and advocating illegal activity. There are limitations on commercial speech, obscenity and profanity, defamation (ruining a person's reputation by publishing false information that was stated as a fact), copyright, trademark and patented information. The fact that you don't see blatant pornography aired on t.v. during after school hours or five year olds filling the theater seats to watch the latest horror movie are indications of limitations of free speech at work. Parental warnings on cds, ratings on games and movies, even successful lawsuits by celebrities against the paparazzi are all evidence of limitations of free speech at work. What you post on facebook may be in violation of laws that existed long before social media entered the scene. Educate yourself on what your rights of free speech do and do not include so you can make wise choices.
3) Your username and password are not considered a means of protecting your content from being viewed, only altered. While an employer is not able to ask you for your username and password and you have the right to refuse to give it to anyone who asks, your username and password for social medias are not considered a means of protecting your content from other viewers such as in the case of a debit or credit card pin number. The purpose of a username and password is to try and make sure that all posts and submissions made under your name and profile were in fact created by you, and not by someone else. Your username and password should be protected and not shared with others to reduce the chances of someone hijacking your identity and using your social media to cause damage, but remember that whatever you personally choose to post is not considered personal or private material and is not afforded the same protection as your online banking or other personal online services. You may have usernames and passwords for multiple websites and applications. The designation of those tools as personal or social will determine how much protection you are afforded for what you post there.
Open Door Development offers a 3-hour "Creating A Constructive Online Presence" workshop which you can book as stand-alone training or as part of a full-day Independent Living Skills package. We have also made one of our handouts from that workshop, "Opening Doors of Opportunity Through Social Media", available for free on our website which you are welcome to download and share with your friends, family, employees and clients. Encourage people to create a social media presence they can be proud of. You have the choice whether your social media choices will lead to positive outcomes or negative consequences.
