Legal and Ethical Issues of Social Media

I consider myself to be someone who strives to see the best in people and that everyone is trustworthy at least to some degree. Nevertheless, when it comes to social media, some individuals believe that sites like Twitter and Facebook come with an “anything goes” policy. This is especially true in the workplace.

On Mashable.com, a study is discussed that was conducted by the Ethics Resource Center (ERC). This study is conducted yearly about what is considered acceptable conduct in the workplace; lately they have been adding questions that connects ethics and social media. The interesting result is that those that were considered to be “active social media users” said that questionable behavior was acceptable. An example of this is adding clients/customers as “friends” on social media sites, 59% of active social media users said this was acceptable compared to other U.S. workers where only 28% said this was acceptable.

My thoughts on the topic- I believe it is ok to add people like clients or customers as friends on social media. This can provide benefits to the customer; if they return to the company to conduct future business then they can work with the same employee they worked with before. The employee knows the customer and how to best conduct business with the customer to be the most efficient. However, this is the only benefit I see to this scenario; outside this scenario little to no interaction may occur between employee and customer so I don’t really see the point.

On a separate topic, the legal issues related to social media are too many to count. All you have to do is go to Google and search for legal issues involving social media and you can see for yourself. An example of these issues is when companies fire employees over a comment or post made on site like Facebook or Twitter that is offensive towards the company or coworker.

In an article by, Mike Allton, he states that we are protected from being fired. The National Labor Relations Board states that under the National Labor Relations Act (1935) we are protected from these actions taken by companies if more then one person is involved. This means that an employee who acts alone in the posts on social media does not qualify for the same protection.

My thoughts on this article are that I agree. I wish I  could go into more detail but, I am glad that the NLRB has taken social media into account when it comes to these types of conversations.

In Response to the Applebee's Controversy

“What would Jesus do at a restaurant?” most likely not stiff the waitress with a rude comment on a receipt. The recent event involving  the termination of an Applebee’s employee over posting a receipt online is somewhat alarming. If you do not know the story to which I am referring to, click here to read about it.

The event at Applebee’s can be described as alarming for two reasons, the companies reaction to it and what the customer wrote on the receipt.

Let’s begin with what the customer wrote on the receipt, the news articles that have swept the Internet said the restaurant is quoted saying that any party over a certain number of people (usually 8 people) will face a gratuity charge of 18%. Did the customer miss that notice? In my experience eating out, notes like that are usually clearly printed on the menu. The customer should not have been shocked that the note got the reaction it did. In an article posted on MSN Money I believe they said it best, “What would Jesus do? …not stiff the waitress.” Further in the article it states, Applebee’s, on their Facebook, condemned the comment made by the customer but still justified the firing of the employee who posted the picture of the video.

My thoughts on the firing of an employee who posted a picture are simple. I believe this went way too far. I’m not saying that no act should have taken place, the waitress should have had some serious talking to.  Going back to the MSN Money article, a representative from Applebee’s stated that written in the company’s policy is that customers have a privacy that is not to be violated. I don’t want to sound harsh but, do the employees know what’s in the company policy? Was this included in the company training? I firmly believe that someone needs to look at Applebee’s training of new employees. Every server working in a restaurant should be very much aware of this new policy; especially if they are working as a server. After this then I believe Applebee's would be justified in the actions it took. 

Further, Applebee’s is not very open into why the server was fired. On Applebee’s Facebook page, on their post-dated February 1, they do not for any further into why they chose to fire the server, other than the customers privacy was violated. Taking one look at the comments on the post made by Applebee’s, the people are not very happy with the response.

In summary, to those of you reading this I only have one piece of advice- do not post anything online or write anything that you will regret later. Yes, in the moment when your emotions are running sky high and you know posting on Facebook will make you feel better. I am here to tell you that you are walking on thin ice when you “let off steam”. It may go unnoticed, however, as we have learned from this example at Applebee’s that even though you think it is harmless it can get you fired. 

Collaborative & Distance Communication Social Media- The Benefits for Businesses

We have come so far in the capabilities of what social media can do for us. Nevertheless, even today we are still discovering these features of platforms that we’ve been using for while now.

In the business setting, according to Forbes, social media has become an extension of a company’s marketing campaign. Whether it is hearing what customers really think about your company or product, informing about sales information, or updating contact information. Within these social media platforms like Google lies a feature to collaborate in new ways where they were thought impossible.

In a Forbes article they give the examples of companies using social media to not only share information but also to collaborate on what the company should do next. A specific example the article discusses is a gold mining company that thought all the gold in an area was gone. Through the use of social media they were able to input all the information they had in the different regions of the area on one page/site. To make a long story short, they found a spot that still had gold in it that no one had found before.

Social Media that lets you talk to each other almost literally face to face is possibly my favorite feature of social media. Platforms like Skype let you do this using the Internet! If I could use Skype all the time I would.

What are the benefits of Skype for businesses? They are simpler than you might think.

In an article written by Gabriela Warren, she discusses that using Skype has 5 big benefits to businesses. First, if you are using it to contact other Skype users then it is free; if you are using to contact nonSkype users, cell phones, or landlines then they offer a pay as you go plan that is cheaper than people think.

Second, it’s very easy to use. Whether it’s from the installation or actually using Skype to make calls, the people at Skype have made the process very easy and simple to understand

Third, it is where you are. Since Skype is online you don’t need to worry about carrying extra items with you as you go about your busy lifestyle.

Fourth, the reliability of Skype is excellent. As long as your Internet connection is stable, Skype will not drop your calls.

The final benefit of using Skype is call quality. As long as your headset and microphone are good quality you will get crystal clear calls.

To make a long story short, using social media in your business should be a no brainer.