The Ethics of Users of Social Networking Sites while at Work
01/28/2012
Are users of Social Networking Sites while at Work more or less ethical than those who do not use such sites? That is the question I raise in this blog. In previous blogs I addressed the use of social media to detect fraud and social media governance. However, little has been said about the ethics of those who use such sites. Clearly, it is unethical to use social media sites for personal purposes while someone is at work. Yet, it appears to occur quite frequently. It is wrong to do so as would be when someone makes personal phone calls at work (without approval) or uses company resources or equipment for personal purposes.
The Ethics Resource Center recently issued the results of its 2011 National Business Ethics Survey (NBES). For the first time in NBES history, the 2011 survey included questions about social networks and the people who actively use them. Among the most surprising findings from the survey is the distinctive experience of active social networkers, defined as employees who spend 30 percent or more of their work day participating on various social network sites. Their experience is so far outside the norms of their colleagues that it had an outsized impact on the overall NBES data.
Active social networkers report far more negative experiences of workplace ethics. As a group, they are almost four times more likely to experience pressure to compromise standards and about three times more likely to experience retaliation for reporting misconduct than co-workers who are less active with social networking. They also are far more likely to observe misconduct. Interestingly, they report their observations at a rate similar to non-users and moderately active social networking colleagues. The reasons for the difference are not apparent at this time, although they may relate to differences in the nature of the work they perform or some personal characteristics of the two groups.
Meanwhile, active social networkers differ from co-workers in their more tolerant attitudes toward a number of questionable workplace behaviors. For example, half of active social networkers say it is okay to keep a copy of confidential work documents for possible use in future jobs, compared to 15 percent of non-networkers who believe such behavior acceptable. In addition, by a five-to-one margin, networkers differ from colleagues in saying it is acceptable to do a little less work to compensate for cuts in benefits or pay. Here are the survey results about the appropriateness of specific behavior when comparing social networker to other U.S. workers.
"Friend a client/customer 59% 28%
on a social network
Blog or tweet negatively about 42% 6%
your company or colleagues
Buy personal items with a 42% 8%
company credit card
as long as you pay it back
Do a little less work to 51% 10%
compensate for cuts in
benefits or pay
Keep a copy of confidential 50% 15%
work documents in case you
need it for your next job
Take a copy of work software home 46% 7%
and use it on your
personal computer
Upload vacation pictures to the company 50% 17%
network or server so you can share
them with co-workers
Use social networking to find out what my 54% 30%
company's competitors are doing
My own theory is that those who use social networking sites (i.e. Facebook, Twitter) for personal purposes have blinded themselves to ethical issues in the workplace. Deep inside they know the personal use of such sites during paid company time is wrong. They rationalize the unethical action as somehow being acceptable and that creates an ethical blindness towards other behaviors such as those reported on in the survey.
My view is it is only proper to use social networking sites while at work if it involves a family emergency or when company policy permits it. The problem with going further than this is it becomes an ethical slippery slope to determine when it is okay to use such sites and who gets to decide.
Companies that don't have policies specifically addressing the use of social networking sites for personal purposes while at work should develop one as soon as possible. The ethics rules in the workplace need to catch up with changing technology.
Blog posted by Steven Mintz, aka Ethics Sage, on January 28, 2012
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SOCIAL NETWORKERS MORE LIKELY TO BELIEVE THAT QUESTIONABLE BEHAVIORS ARE ACCEPTABLE
Do you feel it is acceptable to…?
"Friend" a client/customer on a social network
Blog or tweet negatively about your company or colleagues
Buy personal items with your company credit card as long as you pay it back
Do a little less work to compensate for cuts in benefits or pay
Keep a copy of confidential work documents in case you need them in your next job
Take a copy of work software home and use it on your personal computer
Upload vacation pictures to the company network or server so you can share them with co-workers
Use social networking to find out what my company's competitors are doing