Social Media and the Workplace Relationships

Social media has spread rapidly and undergone massive changes. It now stands as a near-ubiquitous commodity; social media in the workplace is almost unavoidable.

Rather than police your employees use of social media, encourage them to use it productively Demonstrate and reinforce the ways that social media can improve employees and the workplace overall.

(image source: 
https://content.wisestep.com/social-media-workplace-pros-cons/) 

• How social media can be used to benefit the workplace relationship

Social media will allow employees to take a mental break and enable employees to make and support professional connections. Also, employees can ask questions and solve a work problem as well as strengthen and builds personal relationships with co-workers. Moreover, Social media can enhances information discovery and delivery, which will improve employee recognition and retention. Overall, social media boosts organisational productivity.

• Potential issues with mixing personal social media with workplace relationships

On the other hand, social media is highly addictive and could harm your privacy. It could make you crave for attention and thus affect your general well-being. Social media could make you prone to bullying and harassment, which could make you psychologically unhealthy. Thus, social media can turn your problems into work problems.

• An etiquette you recommend for the appropriate use of social media and associating it with your workplace

Therefore, it is important to outline social media etiquette standards and make sure everyone who has access to the channels knows these social media rules by heart. Always be polite and professional in your posts and do not spread malicious gossip or content. Plus, we need to report negative, suspicious or harmful content to the appropriate person and/or agency. Furthermore, do not share personal or proprietary information. As employees, we need to keep in mind that we should adhere to the organisation’s social media policy and remember to follow rules and regulations made by your company on social media.