Here’s my final post to summarise this module; Living and Working On the Web.

*ClapClap* Amateur first try on editing a video all by myself. *ClapClap*

Links to my online profile: 
(Click on picture to link to page :))

[LinkedIn]

[AboutMe]

Before this module, I do not have any professional online profile such as LinkedIn and AboutMe that is supposed to aid in my employability. However, midway through the module, I realised the value of it, therefore created both accounts and filled up my ‘online resume’ managing my online identity. I found out that these platforms not only allow easy searching for people who are interested in me, but also allow me to connect and engaged with them, and find new opportunities. Online profile equals to a passport and an identity. 

[Twitter]

The use of Twitter and WordPress also showed me that the type of contents input matter a lot. Prior to the module, I have stopped using Twitter for quite some time. (Initially, I used it to connect with my friends which is more social and lifestyle based.) However, I decided to start afresh and created a new Twitter account and WordPress blog for posting of assignments. Of course the content are mostly marketing related, thus I got followers that are working in this field or like-minded people other than my classmates. Type of content brings type of followers! 

[Facebook]

[Instagram]

Facebook and Instagram is for personal use and I would like to make it stay that way. Other than my professional profiles, I would like to show other aspects of myself that tend towards my personality, lifestyle, interests and hobbies. One major takeaway from this module to keep my online identity as true as possible, believing in the true essence of authenticity. People should be able to see the all rounded me 🙂 Having said that, I will still be careful on the ethics of social media and what I post online. Being authentic online does not mean I can ignore social media ethics.

Well, if you make a Google search on me now, you will be able to find me but I am not exactly there yet. I am still clouded by other Evelina and one of them is a famous fashion blogger name Evelina Barry. Ahhh… Sucks to have a famous person having the same name as you yeah?Anyway, I will not let that affect me too much because I can make a difference in the near future.

I understand now that there is a lot of hard work behind the screen to be easily found by people on Google! Moving forward, I will continue to make good use of the various platforms as mentioned. Hopefully, I can find new platforms to utilise as well. I will think of ways to collaborate with others to make things come to life! Just like the video I have collaborated with Sara on Topic 5 Reflection. (Check out here if you have not 🙂 ) One more area I mentioned in my previous post that I will work on is to start learning how to video edit better. HOW HARD IS THAT! Hopefully, you will see my improvement as I go along!

Cheers!

Reflection Summary on Topic 4

This topic by far has been the most challenging one due to the many areas that can be potentially discussed as well as the challenge of identifying what is ethically right or wrong. I discussed on individual’s use of social media at work and I brought up the argument of what is seen ethical, or rather, acceptable behavior from the different generations.

One major issue highlighted by Sara was employee’s ability to expose business information with just a click of a button. An avenue to rant discontentment using social media might very well leak out company’s trade secret to its competitors. She also propose that organisation should put in place a social media policy.

Yiming expressed in his comment that Millennials are young, ‘open-minded’ and think they should have freedom of speech. For people that are not able to control their emotions and practise self-control, Yiming also suggested that company should have an avenue for employees to voice out their discontentment. I thought this is rather a good idea but also thought there are quite a few factors to consider if not the implementation might backfire! Check out my reply to him.

I also realised that some individuals upload content on social media without realizing that it may do harm to their reputation and affect their job prospect. A great example of Stancy Snyder mentioned by Torws made me believe that we should be responsible of what we upload not solely for the benefit of ourselves but also for the company that we are representing. As much as we emphasise on the idea of authentic online profile, there are things we should keep it private and not display online. Check out my discussion with Torws.

This topic made me realise that other than being authentic, sometimes, we should be clever not to upload certain type of contents that might cause great controversial issues. With the help of company’s social media policy, we can also get a clearer idea of what we can place on social media to the best of our advantage.

 

Social Media At Work: Lets Think Before We Post

Despite the vast topics on social media ethical issue, I thought it would be useful for me and for you (Reminder: Internship in 6 months!) to look at social media used at work and the ethical issue. Especially when we are most probably going to work in industries such as marketing and advertising, entertainment, broadcast, etc. that requires hefty use of social media.

Wonder what is ethical and what is not? It seems like there is no definite answer to that. A study by Ethics Resource Center (ERC), 2013, on Generational Differences In Workplace Ethics of the American workforce, shows that different generations –Traditionalist, Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y (Millennial) has contrasting views.

 Source:  Ethics Resource Center (ERC), 2013.

 Source:  Ethics Resource Center (ERC), 2013.

So after looking at the result, this illustration below came into my mind. As we can see from the results, Millennials are way more open to questionable behaviours. It may be alright to them to state their views because it is their freedom of speech and their open honesty but “On social media, anything you say or do can be used against you in the court of public opinion.” (Mintz, 2014 cited Jaylene)

Dear Millennials, is it that hard to not post whatever that will do injustice to you? I might be a tad conservative speaking as a Millennial myself, but losing a job, negative image and comments are not worth it for that one post. (I cannot deny maybe some like the spotlight.)

For those that prefer to not lose a job, below are simple pointers that I came up with that might help us refrain from getting into trouble at work because of the wrong use of social media.

1. Know Your Company’s CultureCompany has responsibility in framing out the Do’s and Don’ts but we have the responsibility to know what are them. Go and find out what is acceptable in your everyday work place.
2. Practise Self-ControlReally mad about your boss? Really mad about how your company works sometimes? You can still choose not to tweet about that! It is time we practise some self-control! As mentioned by Lynda Moultry Belcher, “While a company can give its employees rules, policies and other directions, it cannot guarantee that employees will exercise self-control when it comes to ethical decisions.” I cannot agree more to that.
3. Treat Others How You Would Like To Be TreatedHave not we heard of this golden rule somewhere? No matter offline or online, we should all live by this rule because workplace environment can be made better. The difference in generation on workplace ethics should not be an excuse not to be courteous online. Remember, think before posting.

Lets cheers to better social media ethics and good luck to all on your internship experience 🙂

References

Animated GIF: Giphy

Belcher, LM. (2014). Two Challenges That Many Companies Face in the Area of Ethics. [online] Small Business – Chron.com. Available at: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/two-challenges-many-companies-face-area-ethics-23390.html [Accessed 5 Dec. 2014].

Ethics Resource Center (ERC), (2013). Generational Differences In Workplace Ethics. [online] United States of America, pp.12-13. Available at: http://www.ethics.org/files/u5/2011GenDiffFinal_0.pdf [Accessed 5 Dec. 2014].

Mintz, S. (2014). Reposted Jaylene, A. Sexual Discrimination and the use of Social Media in the Workplace. [Blog]Workplace ethics advice. Available at: http://www.workplaceethicsadvice.com/2014/09/sexual-discrimination-and-the-use-of-social-media-in-the-workplace.html [Accessed 5 Dec. 2014].