Sometimes I see people put this in their bio on Twitter:
“My tweets represent me and do not reflect or represent the opinions of the company I work for.”
I immediately think, “That’s adorable.”
The separation of work life and personal life died at some point in 1997.
Disagree with me? Fine. Tell the folks I know who got fired for stuff they posted on their personal facebook pages that companies don’t care about your social media. Tell the people I know who didn’t get job offers because of things they tweeted that companies don’t care about your tweets. Tell the executives that very publicly lose their jobs over tweets that companies aren’t concerned with your approach to online platforms.
Is it right?
Maybe not. Maybe we have lost some privacy in this whole situation.
But don’t think for a second that a disclaimer in your Twitter profile is going to protect you. That’s a lie.
And companies that make you put this on your bio because it offers some kind of liability are kidding themselves. Maybe that protects them in court, but not in the court of public opinion. The solution isn’t forcing employees to put this in their bio. The solution is training them to use social media wisely since the people you hire aren’t just employees, they are extensions of your brand.
Tweet smart, the world is watching.