Blurred Boundaries: Social Media Privacy and the Twenty-First-Century Employee

Abstract

<p>This paper discusses the future of employee privacy in social media.</p> <p>Part I reviews the extant legal landscape with an emphasis on three general areas of employer activity related to employees’ online activities: (1) monitoring and surveillance of employee social media profiles, (2) evaluation of applicants’ social media profiles and online speech in making hiring decisions, and (3) limiting employees’ off-duty online activities.</p> <p>Part II reports the results of an empirical research project into the expectations of young employees regarding the role of social media in the workplace. We asked respondents about a wide range of topics related to social media, such as the extent of personal information they post online, the privacy-protective measures they employ on social media sites, their level of concern regarding their privacy online, and their attitudes and expectations regarding the use of social media in the workplace. Despite granting employers access to information about their private lives by participating online, respondents expect that work life and private life should be generally segregated — and that actions in one domain should not affect the other.</p> <p>Guided by the survey findings and legal examples from international jurisdictions, in Part III we offer workable recommendations designed to protect employees’ desire to maintain some separation between personal and professional contexts.</p>

Enterprise social media: a study from digital natives’ perspective

“…In a similar vein, although focusing on privacy, Abril, Levin, and Riego's (2012) research suggested that Millennials were cognizant of their reputational vulnerability on digital media but were unwilling to sacrifice Internet participation to segregate their multiple (work and private) life performances. The authors also highlighted the paradoxical finding, in this case, related to private SM: employees wanted privacy from unintended employer eyes, and yet they shared a significant amount of personal information online, knowing it could become available to employers and others.…”