I work in a form of advertising. I often want to tweet or comment on different ads I’m working on. Even when it’s positive, I have to stop myself.
What violation of a clients privacy or breach of confidentiality could I be making by making a simple tweet? Possibly spoiling their new ad campaign? Not likely, but it’s not a chance worth taking, either.
I think employers will have to consider guidelines sooner than later. For anyone who uses a service like Twitter while at work, the natural inclination is to occasionally mention work related topics — possibly even vent about work related issues. That might seem harmless enough, but it could certainly backfire.
I consider it a positive move for companies to at least inform employees of mistakes they could make in relation to their jobs through social media. If not guidelines, maybe just a list of ‘bad ideas’.
Jeremy Lindh is a website and community developer. He blogs here and goes by @jeremylindh, on twitter.
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February 3, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Lena
Hi guest poster!
Thank you for writing about this important issue.
Twitter has so far has only (as far as I’ve seen) positive feedback in the media, the new media darling kind of. This is probably a liability waiting to happen. Sure there’ll be a headline soon that says;
“Twitter took me to prison” well maybe not quite.. but still
I’m working as a product manager for a media company in London and only today spoke to a colleague about what we are really allowed to mention on our (personal) blogs and twitter accounts.. even if the twitter post is positive it may be out of line with company branding and messaging.
Personally, I think employees in the webworld should be briefed on this by management to avoid any confusion. Better to be safe than sorry.
February 4, 2009 at 10:51 am
Gina Chen
I agree that you need to stay away from sharing confidential or proprietary information on twitter. That’s really good point.
And people, I think, are ill advised to criticize their company (or really anyone) on twitter. Too public a medium.
However, I hope employers’ don’t crack down too hard. Can ruin the spontaneity of it all.
February 4, 2009 at 11:09 am
Lena
Great post Gina Chen.
I too hope employers don’t ban twitter from work PCs, like some have done for Facebook (which arguably is a different type of social medium but still). I think web company employees should all be allowed to browse Twitter at work, tweeting updates throughout the day to come across new web products and get more web savvy. But preferably not mention the company
February 4, 2009 at 12:01 pm
jeremylindh
@Lena Hi, back to you! I think your use of the term “briefed” is perfect. I’d hate to see employers remove the use of Twitter from the workplace. For some it may be distracting, but for others it’s a great way to keep current on news and happenings on the web.
@Gina Chen It seems so obvious not to criticize anyone or anything, but did you read the story about the social media ad agency rep who wrote a negative Twitter message about Memphis, Tennessee that quickly got back to his FedEx clients? Even people who know better can still goof up! He may have still made the mistake if his employers had given him Twitter guidelines, but at least it might have been in the back of his mind.
Thanks for your comments!
February 4, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Angela Connor
Hi everyone. Jeremy’s guest post did make me think a little more about it and so have your comments. At first, I cringed at the thought of guidelines but when you think it through, there is likely a ned in many cases. And the form of these guidelines could be as simple as a document that suggests things you “shouldn’t” do. @Lena, I’m with you. I’d hate to see a major crackdown, though we all know it’s going to happen somewhere. We’ll have to come back and discuss it when it does. Thanks for your comments.
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