by Lon Elliott

Created on: February 11, 2009   Last Updated: February 19, 2009

This is a slippery slope to say the least. As the Internet grows and thrives, it becomes more and more common place for individuals as well as companies, to use it as a resource. It can be used for a number of functions. The question is however, can your personal use of the Internet, effect the company you work for, and by proxy, represent it?

The resounding answer is yes. Let's look at an example recently in the news regarding Mr. Phelps. The things he does in his personal life have a profound and direct impact on the companies he represents. Things that he does of a questionable nature, call into question the company, or companies, he represents.

Such is the case with social websites. The world is shrinking daily due to the Internet and the information if provides. In a world where any information is only a click away, companies need to not only protect themselves, but in the end, protect their employees as well as constituents. Let's put this in another light. If you worked for a company and had a company vehicle, would you drink and drive? Of course not. Not only because of the legal ramifications, but because the company would no doubt hold you accountable for your actions.

Why? They would fire you because you shed a bad light on their company, in addition to hurting their insurance and many other things. Would if be justifiable? Of course it would, because something you did as an employee had a direct impact on their company image. Now lets put this into context. If you are on your favorite social media site, and do things that reflect negatively on your company, would they then not be compelled to hold you accountable for your actions? From a legal and moral standpoint, there is little difference between the two situations. Yes, maybe the drunk driving reference is a little overboard; however, things that can be said and portrayed on the Internet are no less damaging to an individual, or company.

Now we can all agree that this is a tricky situation to say the least. Yes, you as a person have the right to use these social media sites as you see fit. However, your employer also has the right to protect themselves and their interests from harm due to something that could have been prevented.

The days of old are gone. With the world shrinking, it only takes an innocent search of your search engine of choice to link a person or a damaging website to a company. Once the company is even mentioned in the same sentence, they are immediately hurt. Then you potentially not only hurt the company and yourself, but the other employees relying on their jobs also.

In this light, in my opinion, the company has no choice but to protect themselves by holding employees accountable for their actions on social media websites.

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