SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATION1
Potential Pitfalls of Social Media Communication in the Workplace
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Potential Pitfalls of Social Media Communication in the Workplace
Advantages and Drawbacks of Social Media Use
Business organizations face both advantages and disadvantages when it comes to using social media platforms to communicate with employees, customers, and/or global communities. Social media use can be a good thing in that captivating and pertinent content will grab attention and improve brand presence (National B2B Centre, n.d.). Response time to rapidly-occurring industry developments is decreased significantly, heightening the organization’s ability to be heard. Social media is, for the most part, free, so it can be cheaper than traditional advertising. Use of it is a great way to communicate with customers, in particular, providing a means of fast, effective customer service. This is turn promotes increased loyalty and support from a company’s customer base (National B2B Centre, n.d.).
There are disadvantages, though. A social media presence does not manage itself, but requires resources to manage it as far as responding to feedback and producing content to energize and interest newcomers. It is difficult, too, to determine which social media channel is best suited for a company’s needs, as quantifying that value can be challenging. Ineffective use of a social media network, too, can actually damage a company’s reputation (National B2B Centre, n.d.).
Communication Barriers with Social Media
Although immensely popular, with the ability to communicate 24/7 and the Gen Y and millennials segment of the workforce preferring text and social media to any other means of communication, social media presents some significant communication barriers. Studies indicate that a mere seven percent of communication is actually based on the written or even verbal word…the remaining 93 percent is conferred through nonverbal body language. In order to communicate fully and absolutely, humans require hearing tone, seeing someone’s eyes, and witnessing the small nuances and shifts of their posture and limbs(Tardanico, 2012). This is when it becomes clear that maybe the message communicated verbally doesn’t necessarily mean everything it says.
“Awash in technology, anyone can hide behind the text, the e-mail, the Facebook post or the tweet, projecting any image they want and creating an illusion of their choosing. They can be whoever they want to be. And without the ability to receive nonverbal cues, their audiences are none the wiser.”(Tardanico, 2012)
The irony is clear: as connected as social media has given humans and organizations the power to be, we are potentially more disconnected than ever before. If a manager were interested in using social media to create an organizational intern program, this is one barrier s/he would likely come in contact with.Another barrier would be difficulty in regulating interns with routine tasks and hours. Unless an individual is self-motivated and disciplined, working with social media is challenging as far as staying task-oriented.
CommunicatingEffectively with Social Media
In order to ensure they communicate effectively when using social media, managers should take certain steps. There are several levels of communication to master in order to best harness the power of social media, including, first, the public reply. The public reply affords an open means of communication for people to interact with organizations. Second, the direct message often follows the public reply, and is an excellent starting point for more private communication. With Twitter, the direct message has a character limit, and is a good place to request permission to follow up with an email. Email is the third level of communication, which becomes increasingly more personalized. Email can be more in-depth, forwarded to additional parties, and in general afford deeper communication(Gordhammer, 2010).
The fourth and fifth levels are more personal and in-depth still: phone and in-person (or video-chat). A phone conversation allows for quicker back-and-forth, and allows the respondents to get a better sense of one another, minus the carefully crafted verbiage of text. The same holds true for any kind of in-person or video meeting. Communication occurs on both non-verbal as well as verbal levels when meeting occurs in person, which is important to assessing the level of an individual’s commitment and enthusiasm(Gordhammer, 2010). In order to communicate most effectively through social media, a manager should utilize all of these methods.
After-Hours Rules and Policies
Workplace law specialist Kathryn Dent stated recently that, to some extent, businesses had been largely reluctant to institute regulations concerning employees’ after hours’ social media activity. However, court decisions in business’ favor are helping to change this trend. Questionable social media activity, according to Dent, can cause significant trouble for many organizations. One example of such is bullying activity in online social media forums (Abbott, 2014).
“The prevalence of workplace bullying can be facilitated by social media, and so I think we might see more bullying claims that are brought with regard to things said in the online world, as opposed to the actual physical workplace.” (Abbott, 2014)
Rules and policies that businesses should potentially institute include an anti-bullying agreement, a policy regarding not posting anything in an employer’s name without prior authorization, maintaining confidentiality, particularly where trade secrets are concerned, and prohibiting discussion of launch and release dates (Adams, n.d.).
Guidelines for Managers
Managers should create a social media policy and train any individuals they have managing their social media presence in proper communication strategies and efficacy, first and foremost. Proper etiquette and after-hours presentation should be uppermost in mind, as all who work with an organization’s social media should be concerned with their presence and the fact that they are representing the company and its brand(Bjerke, 2012). All tweets and posts should be carefully reviewed before posting. Every post should be respectful, honest, and accurate. Employees should be adjured to be careful not to misrepresent the company or their opinions as anything other than that—their personal opinions(Bjerke, 2012). With these basics communicated, a social media team should be effective and successful.
References
Abbott, B. (2014, December 17). Clamp down on employee social media activity after hours. Retrieved from
Adams, T. (n.d.). Is your social media policy violating federal law? Retrieved from
Bjerke, J. (2012, June 12). National labor board issues social media guidelines for employers. Retrieved from
Gordhammer, S. (2010, February 8). 5 Levels of effective communication in the social media age. Retrieved from
National B2B Centre. (n.d.). Advantages and disadvantages of using social media. Retrieved from
Tardanico, S. (2012, April 30). Is social media sabotaging real communication? Retrieved from