We are frequently being told that social networking has arrived and that we’re missing something personally and professionally if we don’t engage. Celebrities continue to perch on branches and Tweet on Twitter, Facebook has passed into popular acceptance by having a new film made about it and things move so fast that Bebo, My Space and FaceParty have already disappeared into the ether. LinkedIn takes pole-position as the poshest of the lot and is mainly the social-networking home for professionals.
And in the excitement to join this experience, we often leave all sense and reason behind us, lose all our professional reserve and discretion and reveal all to the world, at best, and wash our dirty linen in public at worst.
Now this may be great for teenagers who like to challenge authority and believe they are invincible, but is it so good when not only our family can see our antics, but also our bosses and prospective employers can end up knowing us better than our families – all because we want to connect to everyone and tell them everything.
In my job as a business coach, I work with employers and employees, I see both sides of the story and it doesn’t make good reading. Employers regularly search the internet for information on their workers and prospective employees and challenge people on what they find. Personal indiscretions can harm promotion and recruitment prospects and work indiscretions can rapidly lead to disciplinaries and even dismissal. Employees often throw caution to the wind and can end up in conflict situations with colleagues or their employers through social networking.
Even on the network for professionals, LinkedIn, your movements can be watched with interest by your colleagues and certainly your bosses. Connections to recruiters can be seen and tell a story. I can often see when my friends are looking for new jobs from the connections they make to new groups, recruiters and head-hunters and I’m rarely surprised when they tell me they’ve moved because I had already seen their ‘footsteps’ at the time.
So yes, engage with social networking but do it consciously and remember that you are as visible to your colleagues and bosses as you are to your friends. Check your security settings so that you control who has access to your information and your life.
Be responsible otherwise others will hold you responsible!