Social Media Etiquettes to Follow

Last week, an employee from an American restaurant was fired after she posted a photo of a customers’ receipt on Reddit. The particular customer was against paying 18% Tip amount, and had written on the receipt that why she should give the server 18% tip when she gives God 10%. This photo had soon gone viral and after people started commenting about it, the customer lodged a complaint to the restaurant.

Although, the post intended to make people laugh, it severely gone wrong, at least on the employee’s side. Moreover, she had to lose her job. Social media and internet are fastest growing mediums today. Your one mistake on these platforms could cost you your reliability, authenticity, and mainly your job.

Thus, here are some social media etiquettes that you should follow so that you are not fired because of your virtual life.

#1: Do not rant about the company or the boss

Very few people in the world really like their boss. Bosses have to take some hard decisions to make better growth. These decisions not necessarily need to go well with their employees.

There is a great possibility that you hate your boss more than you hate anything else. However, that does not mean you should write about it on social network where whole world could see it. Social media is a place where you can find anything and everything. It is a small world out there in virtual space. Even if you take care of privacy settings and ensure that you are not friends with your boss on such networks, you never know there could be some common friends who can inform your boss or other organisation officials.

The last thing you want is to get a comment from your boss informing that you are fired.

#2: Do not write anything you would not want the world to know

So, you are living two separate lives. Just like Neo from the Matrix. You do not want your employer to know about it. It is very simple; do not talk about it on social media. People can talk about almost everything on social media. Shampoo they use, breakfast they had, things they like, and things they do not. It is fine, do that as long as you are not posting any threat to your job, or breaking any guidelines set up by your employer.

Many times people secretly search for a better career option while being employed to the current employer. In such cases, posting about your interview that you secretly had, talking about the exam that you gave and employer is not supposed to know about it, will directly give you the pink slip.

#3: Promote your company whenever possible (Conditions Apply*)

Promoting your organisation, or the product developed by your company through your social networking profile is one of the right ways to use your social networking profile efficiently. You can talk about the latest promotions, offers, and policies. You can interact more on organisation’s social networking page, invite your friends to join the page, and can share/retweet the status.

Ho0wever, there are conditions while doing so. Online branding is very elegant thing to do. Do not be over enthusiastic. Too much promotion can lead to irritation. People might think that you are spamming their timelines with such aggressive promotions.

While promoting your organisation on online platforms, be careful that you do not hurt anyone’s sentiments. Do not post any aggressive comments, status, or photos. Even if you have not posted it on behalf of your employers, people might link the organisation to such posts. Do not tag people to the photos that they are not part of. This is considered as spamming, and not promotion.

#4: Pen keyboard is mightier than sword

While writing something, you never know when you will hit the sensitive chords. Try to avoid this while blogging, tweeting, and posting something on other social media platforms. While, you might be cursing a lot in your day-to-day chats with friends, do not do that on social media. Social networks are open world and anyone can see what you have posted or written on it. In case you are searching for a new job, or thinking to change your current profile, such language can seriously harm your chances of hiring, and promotions.

Nowadays, HR teams of many organisations are quite active on social networks. They track the social media profiles of employees from time to time, and if they see that your personal problems, or in general your personality and attitude is not work friendly, they can let you go to increase the productivity and healthy environment in the organisation.

#5: It is not funny if no one gets it

Many times, we post something because we think it is extremely funny. However, not everyone is going to share that thought. Some might not get it, and some will plainly take it as an offensive content.

Most of the time, what you might have posted as a lighthearted joke on the company or your boss, is taken as an offensive remark. Definition of harmless jokes is different for every person, and you should understand this fact.

So, if you are thinking about tagging your boss in a funny (read sarcastic) office meme, think twice before doing so. It can sore your relation with your boss forever. Social media can be extremely helpful for self-promotion and brand promotion provided you follow some precautions and etiquettes.