Uses and Trends
As with social media, we are able to present ourselves in the way we wish to present our persona over the Internet and world wide web. However, in another aspect, other than “personal branding”, we have the ability to create another persona. In order to address how we would display ourselves in the manner of a workplace environment and in the eyes of employers, we are able to do “professional branding”. With the usage of social media, we are capable of networking with other individuals by broadcasting our abilities, skill sets, traits, hobbies, likes, dislikes, and appearance.
In some scenarios of unsupervised social media usage, a Business Insider article states that negative impacts can occur within the workplace environment. Total productivity is lost due to the time spent on social media. The use of social media can also account for an increase in loss of confidential information, defamation, misinformation and employee solicitation. But, it all depends on the policies that are in effect regarding the individual’s workplace.
Disruptive Impact
In the case of personal branding, individuals were in the pursuit of creating a persona in which would allow them to address the audience they would wish to attract. However, with social media, it now brings in a whole new factor into a person’s potential employer and workplace. Social media users have to be wary of what to post in case of scenarios that may be harmful for their employment or career path. Often times, people have to be careful of their public postings despite it might not having a connection to a working environment but due to the manner in which they may be conducting themselves. As an Forbes article addresses it, “Sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ allow employers to get a glimpse of who you are outside the confines of a résumé, cover letter, or interview.” In the same article, “About half of those employers said they didn’t offer a job candidate the position because of provocative or inappropriate photos and information posted on his or her profile; while 45% said they chose not to hire someone because of evidence of drinking and/or drug use on his or her social profiles. Other reasons they decided not to offer the job: the candidate’s profile displayed poor communication skills, he or she bad mouthed previous employers, made discriminatory comments related to race, gender, or religion, or lied about qualifications.” It can be seen how people may either secure the job position or lose it depending on the way they have branded themselves over social media and their postings. It goes to show that we must be cautious in the information and ideas we share and by doing so, we must mentally and physically change the ways in which we express ourselves to conform in an orderly conduct desired by employers and the public.
Predictions
With the appearance of technology and social media, policies are in need to be updated and changed within the workplace environment as well as addressing how individuals are to conduct themselves inside and outside of the workplace. According to a Forbes article, there are 8 suggestions as to why social media policies should be in effect at businesses and it could only help to educate employers, employees, and members of the company. Perhaps, in the near future, companies will be able to incorporate and tolerate the use of social media as there are many benefits that may sprout from the growing technologies.
Social Media And Mental Health 