I have often wondered just how difficult it is to make some of those “random” and “impromptu” videos we see on youtube.
Sure, they seem like a case of right place and right time. But some of them also seem just a little too staged.
Personally, I like to believe there is a crack team of highly trained cinematography geniuses, who are extremely adept at making movies that look home-made, who roam the world creating these things.
But maybe I am the only one that thinks that?
It seems that every group in the world tries to benefit from being seen online in one form or another, these days.
Militant, political, charitable or even criminal groups are able to use the internet to raise their profiles, promote their activities, spread propaganda or just provide an aliby.
The fact that online activity can raise visibility is both good and bad, depending on your point of view.
Many rally against this new openess, whilst enjoying the
But there are also ways to be invisible, even in this ‘brand new frontier’. You may think you know all about the internet, there are forms of “secret internets” active as well, allowing groups to interact securely and away from prying eyes.
Sometimes companies can have social media policies that do far more harm than good.
The “social media policy” is something that many of us can now find in our company handbooks or OH&S policies.
Apparently, only 29% of companies have a formal policy on employee social media usage in place, but of those that do, many seem to have gone a little overboard and made them overly strict.
While it is important for companies to set out guidelines on how employees can use online media while during work hours (an sometimes even dictating how they use it out-of-hours) these policies need to be flexible enough not to create issues every time an employee posts something.
Strict rules over social media use in the workplace, can lead to lawsuits and plenty of bad press – precisely the kind of thing these policies are trying to prevent.
There are many reports of people being fired due to posts on twitter and facebook. There is even a website documenting cases of people being “facebook fired“.
Some stories are funny due to the sheer ignorance shown by the poster like this one.
Others can be far more serious – such as an AP reporter being reprimanded for a facebook post, teachers being let go or being fired for letting off steam about work in your own time.
It is obvious that many businesses are unsure how or what to do regarding policing their employees & social media. But being dictatorially strict about it is definitely not the answer.
If you are looking to write a policy for how your staff use social media soon, why not browse through this library of Social Media policies from other companies, and choose the best course of action for your organisation?