Social Media in the Workplace

Over the past few years, social media has exploded from an adolescent past time into a worldwide phenomenon. In less than a decade social media has infiltrated every aspect of our lives, changing the way live, how we communicate, and how we interact with one another not just in our personal lives but in the work place as well. With just a few clicks of the mouse, we can share our thoughts and opinions, organize events and parties, and upload photos of ourselves and our loved ones for the whole world too see. The explosion of social media networking technologies represents tremendous opportunities for employers but they also contain potential legal pitfalls (Moore, 2011). “It is important for employers and their counsel to understand the benefits, disadvantages and legal issues that can arise when using social media (Moore, 2011)” during pre-employment inquiries, throughout the period of employment and after separation from the employment.

Pre-employment
A large part of finding a job or finding a suitable candidate for a job is often based on networking – a friend of a friend who has heard about a highly qualified individual who is looking for a job. Social networks would seem to be the ideal platform for employers to find qualified candidates for jobs. Since many social networking sites are public, employers may be able to find more information about an applicant than what can be garnered from their résumé. Employees in sales, public relations, and customer service functions as representatives for the companies they work for and social media networks can help employers’ pre-screen potential employees to make sure they won’t embarrass the company. “A well-crafted online persona can serve as an asset, acting as a kind of extended resume (Lee, 2010)”.

However, if employers are going to use social medial to prescreen their potential candidates, they need to be aware of the potential pitfalls. The first is that, employers may face liability under federal,