In our quest for jobs that will give us a stable means of income, we've on several occasions been greeted with some criteria and conditions that raise eyebrows, and it's surprising how some of these organizations insisted that without such conditions being met, they won't be giving you a job. One of such conditions is how some organizations usually request employees social media handles so they can comb through and, on a regular occasion, monitor their lifestyle in the social space, but is that even ideal or not?
Image is a screenshot of the social apps I've on my smartphone.
I personally understand some of the major reasons organizations request their employees social media handles; some of such reasons are to assess the character of such individuals and, in the process, know the kind of person they are, and that can, in a way, protect the organization's reputation. They also see this as an opportunity to comb through the content such an individual has shared in the past to know if the value of the individual aligns with that of the organization; overall, this can be beneficial to the organization, and some of the benefits are stated below.
One of the benefits of these acts is that it helps the employer to quickly discover potential risk via the kind of content such individuals post on their social media space, giving them a thorough background check of the prospective employee. Another benefit of this to an organization is that it helps them assess the skills and interests of their prospective employee, not forgetting that it can also be a means to verify some of the information prospective employees give them. Many times we see people lie about their qualifications, but then, since some people like to show off by uploading their achievements online, employers will be able to verify this information via previous pictures or videos uploaded online while celebrating those milestones.
But despite how necessary all of the above seems to be and would okay a vital role in helping the organization decide if you're fit to work with them or not, we can't help but identify that this request for staff's social media handles has its downsides, especially for employees and prospective ones, and some of those dangers are as stated below.
One of those dangers, and the most noticeable one that makes many go against this request, is how it's more or less an invasion of privacy for the employee or prospective employee; having knowledge about the handle of an employee will lead to monitoring and delving into information these people might not want to share with you as their employer.
Also, another downside is how such information, if given, can lead to discrimination and biased treatment based on what they find out about you on your social media account. I remember the story of a guy who was working as a teacher at a particular school, but due to the fact that he had other commitments, he pleaded with his superior to give him the privilege to miss two days of work weekly, which they agreed to, and he performed his duties diligently on the other days.
Things went south one fateful day when he uploaded on his social media handle that he just moved to his own house and bid farewell to staying in a rented house; apparently, his superior at work saw the publication and most likely felt sad that they themselves hadn't built a house, and here someone that's miles beneath them had, and so not long after that, they revoked the privileges they were giving him before, and from that moment onward, he was moving from one issue to another at the office, which made the work environment hostile for him.
Another danger of such is how it can lead to overinterpretation on the part of the employer, just like we saw in the story of the colleague I shared above, and overall it could also lead to termination of appointment for already existing employees and nonemployment for prospective ones due to the information found on their social media space.
At the end of the day, with those perspectives of the employer and the employee viewed, I can't really pick a side on which is good and which isn't, but what I can say is that everything should be done moderately; for the employer and organization, they should make sure their demands for this information are legal and done in an ethical and transparent way, because there are some employers who would continuously judge and treat their employer badly due to things they saw on his or her social media account.
While on the other hand, we as individuals, one of the most important things we must be mindful about in this century is our online presence; it's not something we joke with or upload any old detail or content that'll portray us in a way that's deemed bad to onlookers. In a nutshell, most of our content and information online should preach positive, so with that being said, I guess both employers and employees should find a way to strike a balance in this regard for the good of everyone.
All photos are mine, except stated otherwise.