Welcome to Discuss HR, the HR blog written by Human Resources UK.
Jane Malone returns today from the beach to look at why we need to be exercise restrain when publishing communication across the internet and social media. (Ed Scrivener)
The web is mightier than the sword
As news of the suspected terror attack in South East London began to hit our TV screens and online news pages last week, what struck me was how quickly the horror of the unfolding events was reported; communicated in real time, through the use of smart phones, twitter, YouTube and other communications media.
My thoughts turned to the family, friends and colleagues of the deceased and the insensitivity of the reporting of often graphic images and descriptions of the attack whilst details of the attack, including the identity of the soldier were yet to be confirmed.
Such events serve to demonstrate how the media, righty or wrongly, no longer has full control over when and how news is communicated, or even what news is broadcast. Whilst it may be argued that the evolution of communications media has enabled a greater freedom of communication on the part of the general public and a shift in the balance of power away from the media, it does raise questions as to the appropriate use of communication technology in the reporting of news and events.
The web is in many ways mightier than the sword, in that once information is in the public domain it cannot easily be removed or taken back. Whilst we should embrace a world where we have instant access to a wealth of online information, albeit some of which needs to be taken at face value, care needs to be taken as to what information is communicated, how and to whom.
Translated into the workplace, both employers and employees alike need to take care of their online presence and reputation; earlier this month it was reported how the father of William Avery Wright learnt that his son had been killed when the 13-year-old’s boarding school published the news of his death on its website before he was able to reach the hospital. Whilst this is highly regrettable, it is thankfully a rare, but nonetheless high profile error. It does demonstrate however how organisations need to fully consider the impact on stakeholders before communicating important information.
The detrimental effect that information communicated online can potentially have upon your career was seen recently when the young police and crime commissioner Paris Brown was force to resign just days after taking up post after tweets she had posted up to 3 years earlier, which could be considered to be racist and anti-gay, came to light. This case opened debate as to whether an individual’s online presence should be verified as part of the recruitment process. Whilst there may be some roles or organisations where this may be appropriate others should perhaps take a more common sense approach and we should all give more detailed consideration to the information we share online as both employers and employees.
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Discuss HR is the HR blog written by members of Human Resources UK, the 10,000 member strong LinkedIn group dedicated to the HR professionals in the UK. Discuss HR is published twice weekly and looks to take an insightful, informative and sometimes irreverent view on the world of HR – all with the purpose of generating a discussion.
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