Essentials of Business Communication 10th Edition by Dana Loewy,Mary Ellen Guffey

Exercise 38

More and more people are becoming accustomed to communicating and sharing information, both business and personal, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and other social media sites. As the popularity of these social networks grows, so do the risks. Savvy business communicators can protect themselves by employing smart practices such as the following:
• Establish boundaries. Don't share information, images, and media online that you would not be comfortable sharing openly in the office.
• Be cautious in clicking links. Treat links on social media sites with the same caution you use with e-mail messages. Cyber criminals are eager for you to "like" them or open their links.
• Remember that Big Data is watching you. Whether you are making business contacts or visiting fun sites, you are leaving a digital trail.
• Distrust privacy settings. Even privacy settings don't guarantee complete protection from prying eyes. Facebook has repeatedly come under fire for changing privacy settings and opening unwitting users' profiles for the world to see.
• Beware of oversharing. If your employer visits your Facebook page and notices a flurry of activity while you should be working, you might land on the hot seat. If you report that you're sick and then your Facebook location shows you posting from the local movie theater, this could reveal that you're playing hooky.
• Doubt suspicious messages. Even if a strange message looks as if it's from a friend, remember that hackers may have broken into that person's account. Use an alternate method to reach your friend to find out.
• Rein in your friends. One of your 500 Facebook friends may tag you in an inappropriate photograph. Tags make pictures searchable, so that an embarrassing college incident may resurface years later. Always ask before tagging someone.
• Expect the unexpected. Recruiters now routinely check applicants' online presence. Some employers have gone so far as to demand that candidates disclose their Facebook login information. Facebook and lawmakers have criticized the practice.
• Beware of "friending." Don't reject friend requests from some coworkers while accepting them from others. Snubbed workers may harbor ill feelings. Don't friend your boss unless he or she friends you first. Send friend requests only once.
Career Application. Office workers and businesspeople are using more and more technology to complete their work. Best practices and netiquette rules are still evolving. We've presented nine tips here for smart use of social media.
Your Task. In teams discuss the tips presented here. From your own experience, add more suggestions that can make social media users safer. What risky behavior have you experienced or learned about? What violations of netiquette have you seen? Prepare a list of additional helpful tips. Show them using the format shown here, with each statement a command. Submit your list to your instructor and discuss it in class.