Anti-Social Behaviour on Social Networks

The rise in popularity of social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn has brought with it many potential benefits for employers and employees; from allowing us to stay in touch with old colleagues, to building up potential contacts and customers. However, what we do on-line can have negative repercussions, especially on the employer/employee relationship.

The main problem is not so much the length of time employees spend on social networking sites, but what they are posting on those sites. If employees write negative or critical comments about their employers on social networking sites, this can damage not only the relationship with that employee, but may have far reaching implications for the business, and may lead to a public relations battle. Indeed, in 2006 the Trades Union Congress dubbed Facebook's then 3.5 million users "HR accidents waiting to happen." So how can you reduce the risk of this happening, and what can you do if it does?