Work blogging is a matter throughout today’s 21st century digital age that is becoming increasingly more associated with employees of organizations who are wishing to express their views and opinions relating to their workplace, whilst at the same time wishing to vent frustrations and cynicisms that relate to their corporate culture throughout the workplace.
Social media platforms such as
Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr have made it easily accessible for employees to
publish posts which relate to their employment, due to their ease and common
use by a large majority of individuals. These forums provide
employees with an opportunity to vent any frustrations or anger that they may
have towards their workplace or corporate culture, as well as providing
employees with a ‘voice’ that they feel they may not have had whilst
cooperating in the workplace environment, and at the same time, allowing
them the opportunity to vent their frustrations, without having to worry about any
consequences which may have resulted from lashing out at their employers and
fellow co-workers in person.
In addition to this argument,
Richards J, and Kosmala K (2013), have stated that ‘Blogging platforms have
become forums for employees to either individually or collectively vent
frustration at the corporate culture’. I believe that this is a valid
statement, as the Internet, specifically these blogging platforms and forums,
are an innovative way to discuss and/or vent any issues or frustrations, and
being a digital structure, has made it easier and more accessible for employees
to vent whenever they feel the need.
However, at the same time, it is
imperative that employees take caution when publishing any content that may
attach negative affiliations to an organization. When content is posted on the
blogosphere, it is accessible for virtually anybody to read and review, and fellow
employees and employers are more regularly discovering these forums which
discuss and/or bad mouth their workplace on a public website, resulting in numerous
consequences such as suspensions, written warnings, and in some cases,
termination of employment.
An example of a recent case which
has involved the use of ‘bad-mouthing’ a workplace via the use of social media
platforms is the employees of British entertainment company, ‘HMV’. This
included several disgruntled HMV employees briefly taking over the company’s official Twitter account in order to express their frustration
and disappointment in relation to being fired by the company earlier that day.
The angry employees took to the company’s Twitter account to vent their rage
whilst tweeting live from the HMV headquarters, managing to post seven
subversive messages before the company was able to regain control over the
account, subsequently then deleting the posts. This case represents the idea
that employee cynicism and anger can offer employees a sense of control and
power over their own workplace, and at the same time providing distance from
their corporate culture initiatives in order to make use of these blogging platforms.
Richards J & Kosmala K (2013), have reflected this notion, by stating that;
‘even the most loyal employees are capable of being cynical and making cynical
comments about their employing organization.’
Richard’s and Kosmala’s statement
also relates to my own personal experience in relation to workplace blogging
and the blogosphere, one example including a former supervisor of mine being
terminated from the organization due to comments made via Facebook about my
boss’s children and his and his wife’s parenting skills. As I, and a majority
of my fellow employees were ‘friends’ with our supervisor on Facebook, her
status update was soon reported to my boss, resulting in her immediate
termination of employment, and a new social media policy being input into our
workplace. A social media policy sets out the standards that an organization
expects from its employees when they are using social media. (Gordon, A, 2013).
Generally, a social media policy provides guidelines to what the organization
considers acceptable behaviour and outlines what employees should and should
not do when using these sites in relation to their employment. As well as this,
it also sets out the possible consequences should an employee breach this policy.
In terms of my personal experience, our social media policy that was put into
place outlined the rules and regulations whilst using social media sites in
regards to the organization, and no further incidents have since occurred in
relation to employee negativity online.
Waddington, S (2012), has stated
that ‘it is important to note that many organizations now have social media
guidelines in place. They basically outline how to engage with social media on
behalf of an organization, and more importantly to aid employees in
understanding the boundaries when engaging with social media.’ In relation to
this statement, I believe that all organizations should have some form of a
social media policy implemented, as it discourages the use of social media in
order to bad mouth and discuss the workplace in a negative manner, which could
then lead to a decrease in customers as well as giving the organization a bad
name, as word of mouth is of vital importance in the reputation of a business
throughout today’s society. As well as this, a policy reminds employees of
their duty of honesty and loyalty to their employer, as well as their
commitment and obligation to act only in the organization’s best interests.
An example of a social media policy –
Image source: symplur.com
Another reason that social media
policies are more frequently being implemented into workplaces is due to the
fact that many more organizations are now actively encouraging their employees
to join business social networking sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter in order
to promote their company and generate new business, whilst at the same time,
wanting feedback from their own employees. However, along with the benefits of
allowing employees to promote the organization via social media, there also
comes a number of risks, as companies have very limited control over what is
said about them as well as their products over the Internet, and the potential
audience for any negative comments is huge. There have been a number of reports
of instances where displeased employees have criticized their employer and
workplace in online forums or social media websites, which as a result has
raised the possibility of damaging the company’s brand and reputation. A prime
example of this is the case of the HMV employees, and their attack on the
organization via the company’s official Twitter account.
The following screen shots are
taken from Facebook pages which are created purely for the sole purpose of
venting or badmouthing employee's experiences with both customers and their
workplaces. These posts are both a perfect example of how the blogosphere
allows employees the opportunity to 'vent' out their frustration via social
media forums. These posts also reflect the idea that the blogosphere within
workplaces is in fact a global issue, as these pages allow the opportunity for
employees to virtually ‘join’ a community which enables them to network with
others from various locations in order to converse with one another and compare
similar situations that they each may have experienced.
Image source: Facebook
My own personal experience also
strongly relates to being considered a global issue, as mine took place in
Australia, whilst relating very strongly to that of the HMV case which took
place in England, as social media was used throughout both circumstances in
order to vent frustrations via online blogging platforms, and had the potential
to damage either of the organization’s professional reputations, regardless of
it being intentional or not. This demonstrates that both of these situations
are becoming far more pervasive and frequent, and are developing around the
world as the Internet becomes an increasingly dominant part of our lives.
In conclusion, the
phenomenon of work blogging or the employment related blogosphere ultimately
gives employees an ‘unofficial’ outlet which allows them to vent any
frustrations and express their views and opinions, whilst at the same time
giving them the control to network and converse with others who may have experienced
a similar situation. This, in turn allows for it to be recognized as a ‘global
issue’ as these blogging platforms allow for employees to connect with others
from around the globe in order to discuss and compare similar situations that
they each may have experienced. However, as the Internet is an online platform
which is available for virtually anyone to access, including employers and
fellow employees, it is essential that employees take caution when considering
publishing any content that may damage an organization’s reputation or attach
any negative affiliations to the company.
Sources:
Gordon, A (2013)
‘Social media policy – the importance within business’ Winning Work, Gordon BDM
(online resource)
Jones, S (2013) ‘HMV workers take over official
Twitter feed to vent fury over sacking’ The Guardian, (online resource)
Richards, J and
Kosmala, K (2013); ‘In the end you can only slag people off for so long:
employee cynicism through work blogging’ New Technology, Work and Employment,
vol. 28, no. 1 pp. 68-77
Waddington, S, 2012
‘Share this: The social media handbook for PR professionals’, John Wiley &
Sons, West Sussex
