Workplace Politics & Social Networking Sites

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

How do y'all feel about mixing Facebook and work?

For instance, do you feel it is appropriate for, say, 8 equal-level employees to be on Facebook with their boss, including talking about work and employees, while, say, three other equal employees are not?

All work together.

There is a lot of discussion concerning Facebook in the workplace and productivity, but no one seems to be talking about the politics. If 8 people and their boss are all friends, posting frequently about work and people at work, how's that affect the three who are not included.

The 8 and the boss have almost instant communications about stuff that's going on, just by looking at their blackberries, etc. Something as simple as "Big boss is here" gives them an advantage. They can plot workplace strategies and develop relationships those excluded don't even know about.

It seems like those in the clique would have an unfair advantage for promotions, recognition, etc.

Whattya think?

[Fern Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fern]

Call me old fashioned, but I was brought up that you don't sh*t where you eat And in today's world that would mean you don't social network with coworkers, 'specially at work. But I'm not currently working, and maybe I'm just an old fashioned fuddy-duddy.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Facebook can be good for a company, EX I have over 200 cigar FB friends many are the company's that make them and companies that sell them, The workers from these Companies are on FB and because they are you tend to get drawn into buying from them a bit more.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

BF . . . that is the type of positive use of FB being discussed on the Internet.

What I am talking about is a virtual life involving some workers but not others, talking about and dissing the others.

In the specific example, a person causing problems at work (dissing others) is 55 years old m/l, and one of those on FB. All the others on FB are 20-25-ish. The three employees not on FB are 60-ish.

This person does not have any FB friends besides the young folks at work. It is pretty obvious what his purpose of being on FB is, to gain favor with his boss and co-workers.

His problematic behavior at work . . . bossy, ratting out others, etc. . . . started about the time he added the boss as a facebook friend (and vice versa). He runs to the boss (young lady/asst. mgr.) to rag about others he falsely perceives to not be doing their job, and she appears to be giving him an ear, reporting up to the big boss what she is told.

The guy is creepy/loner in real life and appears to have taken on his virtual life, acting out, or on, his perceived FB.

There has been a lot of looking at blackberries at work going on, and all this just came out. It came out because some of the younger ones that are his FB friends said his posts are creepy. Only a few of them allow their walls to be viewed, just enough to piece this together, but their posts are hidden to non-friends.

I am not so naive as to not realize that office politics is part of the workplace, but excluding some employees from the playing field seems unfair. Allowing a boss to participate seems to cross a line that should not be crossed. Fraternizing.

It's a whole new ball game.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

The dynamics of the situation may be important.

All of those FBing, except for the older, problem employee, are young students, working jobs that will not their career jobs. The manager FBing with them is also young, and although she is full-time, the job is not something she considers to be long-term and career.

The older guy FBing is post-career, has not made anything of himself, is living paycheck to paycheck, with not enough paycheck, and is not likely to develop another career.

The older guys not included in the FB clique are also post-career, have made something of themselves, and are financially comfortable. They are there for reasons other than having bills to be paid.

Needless to say, I find it inappropriate for a manager to FB/fraternize with employees directly under them, more inappropriate to discuss work and other employees, even more inappropriate to FB/fraternize with some but not all those under them, and even even more more inappropriate to show favortism to those FBing.

A solution might be to require all complaints about other employees to be in writing, and submitted to at least the next two levels of management.

Or, of course, not allow FBing for purposes of office politics.

[M. Henley Class President Find all posts View Profile Close M. Henley]

Just a Thought

Ever considered FBing with the OFs?

[BoardGirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BoardGirl]

It's certainly inappropriate, but not something worth doing anything about.

It's not much different from my sending an email by Yahoo to a friend in another dept's Yahoo address about my boss that's a jerk. Less public, for sure. Griping about people or stuff in the office is going to happen. It's simply the medium that changes.

Those excluded can draw their own conclusions. If this is how it works at that place, this is how it works.

My advice to them would be to either make your peace with it or move on.

It's worth noting that not all people in charge are good leaders. There are many ways that a person can make it to the top of an organization. Perhaps Creepy Guy just found a way that works for him.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

There are many ways that a person can make it to the top of an organization. Perhaps Creepy Guy just found a way that works for him.

CG is certainly not at the top. He is equal-level to the young student-types, who will all be moving on to real jobs someday.

[BoardGirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BoardGirl]

but it seems that his lips are planted on the butt of the person right up the ladder from them.

[pkyorkbeach Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pkyorkbeach]

It is NOT appropriate
Many employees need to be careful what they post on FaceBook because the bosses are looking....

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

It is NOT appropriate
Many employees need to be careful what they post on FaceBook because the bosses are looking....

How can they look?

[jmc Member Find all posts View Profile Close jmc]

I am a manager of a deparment who has a personal facebook account and I have been asked by some of the employees of mine and from other departments to be "friends". Of course ther is a cross secton of staff who are frineds with each other as well. I personnaly have never asked a non-management person to be a "friend" because I do not want to be connected with the employees I manage on this personal level unless they are comfortable with me particpating in their posts. That being said, recently there was a post by one of my staff that dissed an important part of the company's equipment/operations that could have a very negative impact on the community we participate in. My company does not have a policy in place specifically about this type of issue but we do have a Standard of Behavior agreement in place. I addressed it with my employee who had already removed the post by the next morning without me asking because even she realized that was not the place to discuss the issue. Conversation went well though and she seemed to understand.
There are definate pro's and con's that come with interacting out of the office.
I do not feel that Facebooking during working hours is appropriate. There is enough distractions already. Our employer has blocked FB access even though they have a business FB page.
My situation took place the same evening this post was started. I had already started to ponder my own concern about FB'ing and the + and -impact at the workplace when this popped up on the screen.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

The situation is with a big international company and all involved recently signed a privacy policy agreement. It would be interesting to see what it actually says.

Prior to all this FBing being "revealed", there had been a lot of frequent quick looks at blackberries/cell phones and sticking them back in pockets.

Since this has all come out, the one older person in the FB clique has become very distant from the other older employees, just walking away from them at work situations where all need to discuss something, for instance. His unusual behavior elevated when he got involved in the FBing. He and the FBing manager should not have much contact at work because one is inside and the other is outside, but they do now, and shut up and separate when another employee walks in.

He has become bossy and critical of equal employees, running to the FBing manager when they call him on it. Actually, he acts as if he is the only employee doing his job and claims the others leave him to do all the work, when the opposite is the closer to the truth. The others are all working their butts off and he pretty much just stands around and BSes with customers.

It is obvious he feels supported by the manager, but an involved person from another departed who has overheard his reportings to the manager says the manager is playing employees under them agianst each other. Worldwide, the company operates under the team concept, and this little part of it is far from that.

It has to make the big boss' (the one the FBing manager reports to) job much harder, since there is instant communication among many of the employees that he is not privy to it. He likely is not aware of the behind the scenes communication and the reason for the division among his team.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Another thing is that the problem employee is not going to gain anything from his fraternizing. No one is going to get promoted, or get a raise, or even an attaboy. The manager involved is not going to get a promotion, raise, or attaboy.

There simply aren't any promotions or raises available.

It is all about one person wanting to be held in a favored light, to be seen as a persecuted one, and he is creating problems for the other employees to do that.

[BoardGirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BoardGirl]

Another thing is that the problem employee is not going to gain anything from his fraternizing. No one is going to get promoted, or get a raise, or even an attaboy. The manager involved is not going to get a promotion, raise, or attaboy.

There simply aren't any promotions or raises available.

It is all about one person wanting to be held in a favored light, to be seen as a persecuted one, and he is creating problems for the other employees to do that.

Ohhhhh, Drama King!

Well, it'll all just run its course and people will move on and maybe the senior person learns something or they don't. In which case, you can count on "a next time."