Social Networking - Is Big Brother Watching?

I was contacted today regarding a survey being conducted by Personnel Today - the leading HR publication in the UK regarding the use of social networking sites at work and employers reactions to them and their use by employees.

If you are an employer you can take the survey by clicking here.

It is certainly a hot topic and one that is not going to go away anytime soon.

If you are an employee what do you think?

Is it right for an employer to use social networking sites to check up on prospective candidates or current employees?

Should your employer limit your access to social networking sites at work?

If you make a comment about your employer on a social network site in your own time, should they be allowed to censure you?

How far should it go?

I would be interested to hear your views.

Comments

[Peter Dunn]

Employers usually try to limit non-business and personal activities during business hours, so that would include accessing social networking sites at work. Regardless, employees will goof off a certain amount.

Comments about an employer may violate explicit confidentiality and trade secret agreements or policies, but my rule of thumb has always been to assume that anything on the internet will ONLY be read by the one person you don't want to read it.

As to whether it is right for an employer to use social networking sites, or Google employees and candidates, most large firms require candidates to allow background searches as part of the hiring process. Any information that a person has voluntarily published about him/herself, while protected by copyright, is still published for anyone to see.

An employer has a duty to perform due diligence when hiring someone, and professionals and managers would be well-advised to keep private matters private as they did pre-internet.

The solution may come in the form of password-protected social networking sites that protect personal information from general searches, but would allow information exchange among close friends. I wouldn't advertise my party invitations during the Super Bowl, so why would I want to advertise my social life for everyone to see?

[Lin Edards]

Personnel Today is not the leading HR publication in the UK - certainly not for qualified practitioners.

The survey is really badly constructed - and is biased in it's construct. I am suprised you are referring people to it. Didn't you review it before suggesting people complete it?

I have come to expect quality posts from Career Hub which this clearly is not.