Social Media

[FF894]

I have been reading some posts about Facebook and other social sites - all cautioning us to be careful with what we posts, stories of others who were stupid, etc. I was wondering if anyone has a specific policy at work that regulates Facebook and other social media? Would anyone be willing to share their policy? From what I've seen so far, everyone knows its a touchy subject and is waiting for someone else to come up with rules before making their own. At least that seems to be the situation my company is in...

 

[WVEmt]

I have been reading some posts about Facebook and other social sites - all cautioning us to be careful with what we posts, stories of others who were stupid, etc. I was wondering if anyone has a specific policy at work that regulates Facebook and other social media? Would anyone be willing to share their policy? From what I've seen so far, everyone knows its a touchy subject and is waiting for someone else to come up with rules before making their own. At least that seems to be the situation my company is in...

said it before and im saying it again. i dont have any of my crew on my facebook. nor do i post anything about work. having crew on there adds needless drama in and out of work, and im not willing to post something on there about work and have it taken out of context by anyone. as far as official policy goes im not sure about ours. never had to deal with it.h34r:

 

[DarkStarr]

How about just 'no specifics' as far as personal information goes. If youre the type that treats Facebook like a blog, then its probably a bad idea to post any thoughts related to work at all.

 

[Hockey]

Common sense. Goes a long ways people

 

[46Young]

For the newer members:

http://www.emtlife.com/showthread.php?t=19285&highlight=facebook

At my dept, they want no county identifiers for any facebook photos. That being said, they generally don't break balls if you have a few pics of you and your company posing at a training event or something. No working incidents, though. The thought is that someone could identify the scene as their home, their car, whatever, and take the photo the wrong way.

 

[spike91]

Seeing as I work for University Police as a civilian program director and ride at the University's EMS, here's my golden rule:

If I'd be embarrassed to have any of my Chiefs see/read it, no way its going on my facebook.

 

[Chimpie]

Good points so far.

Same things goes for forums. If you don't want someone to know something, don't post it in a forum.

BTW: Our Facebook page is www.facebook.com/emtlife

 

[Simusid]

Here is our policy http://www.swanamb.com/Swansea Ambulance Corps Social Media Policy.doc

It covers a lot, probably too much in some areas, not enough in others.

 

[TransportJockey]

All of my past services/hospital there was no policy and generally they didin't care. That said I did have plenty of coworkers on my page, and had no problems

 

[slb862]

We had a FEW that abused FB, and now the policy is: FB is absolutely forbidden when working, in our department. They are allowed to be on FB on their 1/2 hour break, if they clocked out for it. Then they need to leave the premises. It is still abused by some not all, but everyone had to pay the price for the few that abused it. It is quickly becoming hospital wide policy.
In the system I work in, the mothership has the ability to watch who is on the computer, what sites are visited, time, and date.

Verbal warning first, written warning second, and a couple days off and/or escorted off the grounds for the final warning.

Hope this helps.

 

[JPINFV]

In the system I work in, the mothership has the ability to watch who is on the computer, what sites are visited, time, and date.

I wonder how many people are using proxy services or virtual private networks then to bypass it.

 

[clibb]

I have all of my supervisors on my facebook and co-workers. I don't have any pictures or post anything that would get me in trouble or embarrassed. Facebook owns your pictures once you publish them, so why would you post something stupid?

 

[dixie_flatline]

I have all of my supervisors on my facebook and co-workers. I don't have any pictures or post anything that would get me in trouble or embarrassed. Facebook owns your pictures once you publish them, so why would you post something stupid?

Yeah. Along these lines, keep in mind that associating yourself with your crew on Facebook and posting pictures of you next to a pile of weed isn't the only way to get yourself in trouble.

Be mindful that any status updates, pictures (even if you didn't post them), etc, could be used against you, even in court. Facebook does have "privacy" options in place, and you should be using them, but even so I can guarantee you that they are not foolproof and shouldn't be trusted when your job/reputation/freedom could be at stake. We've had people too dumb to live that have posted status updates like "Called in sickie to work, getting my hair done!", but it's not always that blatant. Something as innocuous as posting about taking your wife out to dinner before your shift could get you in hot water in the wrong circumstances.

 

[Sassafras]

We had a FEW that abused FB, and now the policy is: FB is absolutely forbidden when working, in our department. They are allowed to be on FB on their 1/2 hour break, if they clocked out for it. Then they need to leave the premises. It is still abused by some not all, but everyone had to pay the price for the few that abused it. It is quickly becoming hospital wide policy.
In the system I work in, the mothership has the ability to watch who is on the computer, what sites are visited, time, and date.

Verbal warning first, written warning second, and a couple days off and/or escorted off the grounds for the final warning.

Hope this helps.

That's when it pays to have a smart phone and access it from your facebook app. LOL

 

[slb862]

Personally I don't need FB. But others live by and tell their life story. Some post things that I really don't need to know. I do have FB, but I don't need it to survive. I am rarely on it. I know of people that have lost their jobs because of it. Call it what you want, maturity and life's experience will win everytime. Oh, and I do have a "smart" phone with the internet, I know the ways around allot of things. I just know how to be responsible when it come to things like FB or the internet. K, I feel better now. Peace out!! B)

 

[Sassafras]

LOL slb, it is being responsible. I don't post much on FB at all about work...though I did post a pic of our rig a few days ago because there was a don't put lizards in the tank sign right under the "Deisle Only" sign on the tank cover. I still haven't figured out why we can't put small lizards in the fuel tank. LOL. But generally speaking I don't talk about work. It's too easy to become a HIPAA violation. FB is where I update friends and family about my children and home life (and maybe funny arguments me and the hubs have), it's not a work destressing outlet and people need to remember that or face consequences when they are caught.