The Impact Of Social Media On The Workplace

This literature review will be focusing on the interactions of social media and employment. It will discuss the scientific findings of how communications processes in the workplace are affected by social media. In this paper, we will show: (a) There is a negative correlation between organizations that allow their employees social media access and how those employees view their employer; (b) Use of social media in the workplace environment increases employee productivity and performance, and (c) social support can increase the amount workers access social media at work. It will also discuss how social media affects the interactions between workers at organizations, how they feel about their jobs, and how communication processes are affected by social media.

Lately, there has been an uprising issue concerning prospective employees being required to provide the passwords to their social media accounts on job applications. The issue is causing lots of uproar for employers searching for employees. Many people seek jobs because they are in need of the income, so those people can’t afford to let their personal decisions and opinions affect their job opportunities. Yuki Noguchi the author of the article “Can’t Ask That? Some Job Interviewers Go To Social Media Instead,” held an interview with University of Illinois Professor Don Kluemper who talks about some of situations his students faced. “It puts the students in a bind, he says. They fear that not accepting the request

A growing hot topic, and cause for concern is the increasing use of social media in the workplace. The landscape for communication has changed, and the line between personal and professional communications has been blurred. How will your employer manage the risks associated with the use of social media and at the same time, gain the benefits that this media form provides? While many employers were initially concerned that employees would use company time and equipment for socializing with friends, they are quickly learning that many social networks can also be used directly for work purposes.

According to a survey report done by the Kelly services with 170,000 people from 30 different countries, 55% of all the participants believe that the use of social media for both the personal and professional posts can cause problems in the workplace (Bennett, 2012). According to a study done by the proof point, many US companies that have hired the employees more than 1000 in number face a real problem with their employees to use social media (Ostrow 2009). Almost 17% of these companies had faced serious disrepute due to the offensive comments on the social media websites (Ostrow 2009). Almost 13% of the US companies have investigated the use of personal text messages that have been found to infringe the company’s law (Ostrow 2009).

There are positive impacts that social media can have on employees as was recently published by Robertson & Key, (2017). In their article, “Social media at work: The roles of job satisfaction, employment status, and Facebook use with co-workers”, we are made aware of the positive impact that social media can have on employee. The amount of time spent on Facebook interacting with co-workers can have a positive impact on employee satisfaction at work (Robertson & Key,

Prof Warren from Deakin University indicates researchers have found that a lot of business organisations have no policy regarding social media, with very few offering any social media training at all.

In Zupek’s article, “How social media can hurt your career” she shows how business and corporations are becoming more apparent on social media. With the uprising of more companies being on social media, there is also an increase in monitoring on employees Facebook and twitter pages. Zupek gives direct tweets exchanged between employer and employee and tells the story of Kimberly Swanson. Swanson was an employee at Ivell Marketing and Logistic and worked in Clacton, U.K. and posted a status on Facebook expressing how boring she thought her job was. Days after this post was made, Swanson was called into her manager's office and fired for what she said on Facebook. Zupek concludes the article by giving tips on what not to do on social media and also claims that posts showing negative feelings towards one job should not be posted to be seen by the

Not only are these sites great for recruitment, but they also allow companies to quickly update people about unfolding events, like conferences, and also inform the community of potential threats, such as the H1N1 outbreak. Many of these updates are posted using Twitter, which is the site that asks, “What are you doing?” in 140 characters or less. Large organizations, like the Society for Human Resource Management use Twitter to publicize annual conferences (Twitter Is the Latest Electronic Tool, 2009). Social networking sites also allow companies to communicate news and details about special offers directly to the consumer. It also allows for the consumer to give feedback and receive an actual response from a live person, rather than an automated email. Daniel Schwartz, an attorney with Pullman & Comley LLP, described Twitter as “a unique communication tool that, if used properly, can really help a company grow in outreach and brand marketing.” Not only do these sites help with brand marketing and recruitment, but they also create a record of activity which can prove to be a useful tool to the employer who notices there is too much activity on the sites from employees during work hours (Twitter is Latest Electronic Tool, 2009).

With a rise in the social media obsession in the world today some companies have decided it in their best interest to ban social media from the workplace. A company must weigh out the pros and cons of banning social media, determine why they feel it is necessary, to what extent and what the possible benefits of allowing social media in the workplace are. Once a company has determined they want to ban social media at their workplace, they will have to create a social media policy and share it with the employees.I believe allowing social media in the workplace can be a good thing for both employers and employees as long as it is monitored and policies are respected.

Online recruitment process is very obvious in recent years, which causes one of the ethical challenges. This sort of practice may give a positive or a negative result, for example, when a company checking for an

“Tweet that!! Post that pic on Instagram!! Slide in my DMs!!! Add me on Snapchat!!!” These are the phrases our generation love to use when we try to interact with one another. Social media is a great way to open up opportunities and can assist us with getting our merchandise/business/art promoted or advertised for the world to see. However, there are numerous ways that social media can ruin people’s reputation/careers/future in getting a job. Today I am going to provide the positive and negative features of social media.

Social networking sites are a dangerously sharp double-edged sword. Professional sites such as LinkedIn can showcase one’s talents and provide an advantage within a large applicant pool while personal sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, myspace, even YouTube, if used irresponsibly, can make public many aspects of an individual’s private life which can reflect negatively, when viewed by others. The article “Didn’t get that new job? You need a better Facebook score” (Garling) highlights one of the many ways prospective employers can quantify someone based on their social media presence. The article describes a process whereby hiring managers rely on a consulting firm of sorts. This firm provides a score for each applicant based on their social media presence.

Social media is becoming an increasingly common feature of
the world of work and this trend looks set to continue. This application of communication technology or computer mediated tools have developed rapidly in our lives. Survey such as that conducted by CIPD (2013) have shown that while only a quarter of UK employees use it in their professional lives, this increases to 42% among employees aged 18–24. The innovative operation mode of social media has not only successfully drawn the attention of industry and academia, but has also boosted user growth, especially in the younger generation.

Social media has increasingly been on the rise for over the past 10 years, so has the concern on the effect of it being in the workplace. People are spending more and more time on social media and other communication technology (Walder). Because of this, researchers have begun to wonder what the effect will be in the workplace. The argument of social media in the workplace is on the rise, and will continue to grow as the Internet continues to transform the way people are spending their time (Carlson).

For decades now Silicon Valley has been the capital for major US technology firms and has become a thriving ecosystem for innovation. Household names in tech ranging from Apple to WhatsApp continue to drive innovations that improve or replace today’s major industries and business practices. Although many start-up companies fail to gain traction or widespread success, a handful of companies have risen to world-wide success and multi-billion dollar valuations at a pace never before seen in business history. The well-known social media company Facebook has built a value of over $245 Billion dollars and the car service phone application Uber has seized a notable share of the taxi cab market although neither company existed 12 years ago. These rapid innovations and a general culture of innovation are overthrowing well-entrenched incumbents and revamping the structure of a diverse array of markets. Large, successful firms that fail to adapt their products, business models, and strategies will inevitably decline at hands of small disruptive competitors. Destructive innovation, however, is not a new concept. Technological advancement has been the cornerstone of growth for most economies and particularly for the United States for hundreds of years. Disruptive innovation and growth leads to the reallocation of value amongst firms within any given sector and between the sectors of the greater economy.