If you have ever had a situation in which you have found a member of staff spending more time on Facebook than is spent doing their job, you’ll probably realise where I am going with this one.

If you have ever found a member of staff rubbishing your company on his/her Facebook page, you’ll probably have got angry.

Facebook can be a problem. And just how difficult Facebook can be as an issue can be shown through two highly contrasting issues.

First, the chair of the Headteachers’ association in the UK said last year that the biggest problem UK education faces is Facebook. He was referring to the habit of parents putting malicious comments and gossip about schools and teachers on Facebook. In response to the threat many schools write to parents and demand that they take offending pages down.

Second, in the US there is a growing number of companies that request social media user names and passwords from employees or job applicants. They also are known to sit down with employees or applicants to review their social media pages or ask that the pages be printed out for review. It is said (although not widely publicised) that university courses that are over subscribed with high quality candidates, will look at the candidates Facebook page to see if it co-incides with what is claimed in the application document.

The habit of employers asking for passwords has caused concern and there is talk of legislation in the US to prohibit this practice. But there is a growing tension on both sides, I feel. People want the right to express their views about those who employ them, or teach their children. Employers and employees want protection against malicious gossip.

HHM doesn’t have a Facebook page. We have lots of web pages and blog pages instead. Should we have a Facebook page? If you think so, please just click reply and tell me, and everyone else on the group, why.

Tony

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