TopicSocial media uses on the internet have rising steeply in the capacityof interests for all ages of employees in the work force. As fast as theseapplications are achieve popularity, so are they changing the way employers arelooking at their employees and their companies in general.
There are so manybenefits that social media has brought to the cooperate world, but with thiseach company is becoming increasingly more aware of the risks that are involvedwith using it. Misuse of company resources, conflicts of interest, andcriticism of others are just a few. “The Internet today is ubiquitous. It has worked its way into everycorner of our lives—including our professional practice—and it is here to stay.Technological advances have threatened our economic and personal security andthese advances have changed the face of communication forever.” (Voshel & Wesala, 2015).
). Therefore,the working professionals needs to revise their standards of practiceaccordingly to meet the challenges presented by our changing world. This meansexpanding the way we think about work ethics to include online social media.
Social media requires that workers reframe how they think about privacy,confidentiality, professional boundaries, and has challenged us to innovatewith new, ethically sound ways to serve clients and constituents. AbstractWith the advent and popularity of social networking sites,the boundaries of the relationship between the employer andemployee/prospective employee have stretched well beyond the workplace andworking hours. Predictably, this relationship expansion has led to unchartedadversarial scenarios between the respective parties. Unfortunately, in thisnew, vibrant cyber world, employment law is struggling for deference andattention. Notwithstanding this ostensible indifference, each phase of therelationship is heavily impacted by social network media.
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Applicantrecruitment, information gathering and applicant selection stand to be impactedby the social network communications made by employees or prospectiveemployees. This literature review examines about the ethicsfor a working professional, ethical behavior and issues of using social mediaduring work hours, avoiding from social media misuse. LiteratureReviewIn themodern world, it is commonplace to use web technologies in the organization ofcommunication of young people. In fact, they represent the new means ofestablishing communications, the tool to organize communication.
This change ofthe communication forms influences the content of the communication itself.These changes lead to a significant metamorphosis in the structure of society,impose prints on behavioral standards and even change the mentality. “Internet”as a global information system, is forming cyberspace, creates cyber culturewith its concepts, values, thoughts and language. Today it is one of the maincomponents of the information society. The ambiguity of the social networksinfluence is the important issue of the modern world.Social Media means channels and platforms, which are based on theInternet – technology, for communication and content sharing between users. The main features and differences of socialmedia are: unlimited interactive communications; directly involved users in thegeneration and relay of the media content; a high degree of involvement in theprocess; maximum speed of the feedback; user personalization.
Social media hasbecome extremely popular in recent years. “The prevalence,widespread use, and influence of technology in society today, including theworkplace, is undeniable. Computers, the Internet, email, and cell phones arenow indispensable parts of social interaction as well as business; and theirsophistication, uses, and reach are expanding continually. In addition to themany types of people using social media, there are many types of social mediato use, all of which can have ramifications good and bad in the workplace. Someof the major social media sites and networks are as follows: LinkedIn is asocial and networking site geared for professionals that was created in 2003 toprovide professional people with access to networking, marketing, advertising,and job search opportunities. Any person can search for another person’s onlineprofile; and no password is required to conduct a search. The site can alsoprovide specific employment opportunities; and employers can examine anindividual’s job prospects.
The site has more than 70 million users globallyfrom more than 200 countries, according to Hearing and Ussery. The site hasmore than 100 million members, and adds new members at the rate of about onemillion per week. Social media has completely transformed the life of many,many people. In particular, social media has materially changed the way inwhich people communicate. Social media affords people readily and easily usableways to stay in touch with family, friends, colleagues, and co-workers,including the ability to rapidly share information and commentary. Businesstoday is also taking advantage of social media for marketing, management, andhuman resource purposes.
Furthermore, the conception of the “workplace” hasbeen broadened with the advent of technology and especially the existence of”telecommuting.” “The increase in workoutside the office has further blurred the boundary between work and home,public and private Social media, therefore, is being widely used in businessand professional as well as personal settings.” (Cavico, et al., 2013).Since the advent of Internet-based information seeking, protecting privacy inthe practitioner client relationship has become an increasingly challengingendeavor. “The popularity of socialnetworking and microblogging sites such as Facebook and Twitter has increasedthe amount of personal information people share online, while search engineslike Google enable people to find practically anything they might be lookingfor in seconds.
Unfortunately, it is also easier than ever for social workstudents and practitioners to blur the boundaries between personal andprofessional relationships online.” (Voshel & Wesala, 2015). Socialmedia ethics for a working professional in the IT sector is a challenging topic, because there are so manyethical and compliance issues.
Some of thatissues include breach of confidentiality, conflicts of interest, misuse ofcompany resources. It can really touch on so many levels of the company’soperations, its leadership needs to address social media in context to itsoverall business operations. Social media cannot be addressed successfully as astandalone matter. A company that is lacking an initiative to effectivelyidentify, access and manage its approach to social media, and its tools, willnot only loose the many opportunities social media provides, but will face manyrisks that will most likely damage the business. “Time Theft isdefined as time that employees waste or spend not working during theirscheduled work hours. This behavior is unethical as employees are compensatedfor this time even though they are not producing for employers. Thus they areintentionally stealing time rightfully belonging to their company.
” (Hancock, 2016).). The new trends of time theft with an emphasis on social media and onlineshopping are emerging in the workforce. The study also examines if these new trendspossibly could have a negative impact on individual and firm productivity.
Theresults suggest that social media and online shopping are indeed emerging asnew platforms for time theft. The study displayed social media may be moreworrisome due to having a greater amount of users and a higher usage among therespondents. With every respondent who had social media also having access toan app on their phone, personal device usage might be an important topic forcompanies Online Social Networks use has seen significant growth in recentyears. Facebook especially has grown so much it is number one among OnlineSocial Networks.
As the number of Facebook and another Online Social Networkusers continues to rise, so too will the amount of personal informationemployees and job applicants or current employees, “particularly young ones, who “employment” results in numerous examplesof job applicants or current employees, particularly young ones, who have beendenied or lost a job because of personal information posted on an Online SocialNetworks site such as Facebook or MySpace.” (Kaupins & Park, 2010). Moreover, thenumber of employers who research applicants and employees on the Internet isalso on the rise. A recent survey indicates that 75% of U.S. recruiters andhuman resource professionals research job applicants on the Internet, includingsocial networking sites. A large majority of those surveyed have rejectedapplicants because of information they have discovered online.
ConclusionSocialmedia clearly has become a prevalent and powerful communications andinformation-sharing medium that has fundamentally changed the way peoplecommunicate and interact. People, personally, and as employees as well asemployers, use social media today at home, while travelling, and in theworkplace. There are, plainly, legal, ethical, and practical implications foremployers and employees regarding the use of social media in employment.Employees do not need to fear for using social media, but they do need tounderstand it, and make a place for it in their ethical awareness. Balancingthe legitimate interests of employers and employees and job applicants, as wellas drawing the proper ethical boundary between moral and immoral conductregarding social media use is a very difficult undertaking indeed
