I’d be snarky with too.
This world where everyone who works in customer service is required to kiss your feet no matter how much crap gets dumped on them simply because “professionalism” is a fictional one.
It actually is . at least as it pertains to employment.
iol.co.za/business-report/economy/no-such-thing-as-private-on-social-media-1934801
We see more and more employees getting into trouble for posts they have made on social media.
The question is: Are employees then not entitled to their personal views and freedom of speech? The answer is not so simple. Let’s look at an example. I’ll use myself. I am a director at a large law firm. I have various social media accounts, which I use for different purposes.
I use LinkedIn and Twitter for professional purposes (things like networking, reading the news and research). I am connected with many people I do not know personally.
The purpose of these accounts is clear and I post accordingly.
I also have a Facebook account, which I see as personal and I only connect with friends and family.
So, I use Facebook for my personal thoughts and likes and dislikes, which I share with my friends and family. It is therefore private… right?
There are two problems with this line of thinking.
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The network effect. It may be a private thought, but I share it with my 100 friends, who “like” my post, so their 100 friends can now see it and then their 100 friends and soon a million people saw my private thought, which is now not so private any more.
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Association. As a director of a company (or even an employee) I am inevitably linked to the image of that company.
I can state “these are my personal views”, but if I make a controversial statement, does it not indicate the mentality of the people who work at or manage the company that appointed me?
Where is the line between my personal and professional thoughts then? I think in some instances there simply cannot be one.
I don’t believe there is such a thing as “private” on the internet and definitely not on social media. What you say is public, it is in writing and it is there for everyone to see.
The good old saying: “Think before you speak” is just as applicable online – think before you post!
There can be many serious consequences to your posts on social media. We frequently hear of defamation, harassment and cyber bullying, but it is just as easy to commit a breach of contract or even an act that can be seen as insider trading over social media.
Social media is here to stay; as an employer you cannot prevent your employees from using it, but you can provide them with guidelines.
It is important for employers to have proper social media policies in place and to provide training to ensure that everyone, including management, understands the risks and consequences of posting on social media.
That’s just my personal view.
- Wilmari Strachan is director and head of technology and internet practice area at Werksmans Attorneys.
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I recommend you stay far away from customer service as a job then. Because it’s the same everywhere.
Well, except here, of course 
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I managed a fast food joint in College. I would never let a customer talk down to my employees or hit them. Just because most places let it happen doesn’t make it okay.
I guess it also depends on where you’re from I guess.
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Most likely they got involved because wow is no longer the love child of a golden goose and a cash cow as well as no new games for 2019 and all other IPs underperforming. At the end of the day Blizzard is still a for profit company.
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Rule of thumb… if your account is set to public then you are representing your company even if you don’t intend to and should maintain professionalism.
If your account is set to private but you accept follows from a large number of consumers then you are representing your company even if you don’t intend to and should maintain professionalism.
If your account Is set to private and you only allow personal friends and family to follow you then you can say whatever you want but should be cognizant that one of your friends and/or family may screw you over and publicly post what you have to say.
Welcome to the internet. Best plan is to stay off it.
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I’ll, uhh… take your word on that. If nothing else, my work experience in venues that sell alcohol have been sufficient to convince me that I should never drink alcohol outside my own home.
Where does his job end if his own social media accounts are involved, then? That’s a tough line to walk, I think. Either he’s working 24/7, or at some point, he needs to be allowed to be disassociated from his job. I’m sure you’ve worked long hours before – it’s death by a thousand cuts.
Honestly though, this kind of thing is why I stay away from social media. I feel no compulsion to share my thoughts on any subject on such platforms, and in my experience, the only thing social media is truly good for is making a small problem into a big problem.
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Understand completely I was one of those PR guys that had to go into the burning fire building with all the towns folk standing with pitch forks and pails of hot oil.
Difference is I was the fire extinguisher and I can honestly say I met a lot of terrific people in my travels. All people want is for the company to just LISTEN to what they are saying and find a fix to make them happy.
Problem is too many CM/CSR’s don’t take the time to listen, they are too busy trying to follow the corporate bean counters line.
I told all my CSR’s I ever trained, deal with the customer the way you want to be dealt with yourself.
Let me handle the bean counters, because in the end. The customer is your ultimate boss. Without their patronage and money; the bean counters right up to the President don’t have a job if the customer walk from the company completely.
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Las Vegas.
Of course.
Correct and once Blizzard stopped being the cash cow it was, they started to tighten the reigns and watch the how money was being spent.
That is referring to the second definition of the word “personal”, speaking in terms of likes, dislikes, viewpoints and interests…
As I mentioned earlier, I was using the primary definition, belonging to one person.
A person can have a personal, public, account that isn’t sponsored by their company. Rather than their ‘company’ account, it’s their personal account, with their name on it.
That doesn’t, of course, mean, that the company can’t still have policies in place determining your usage of that account as it might pertain to them or topics referencing their interests, but their policies or lack thereof don’t make it less that persons account.
set account to “private”?
It’s not rocket science.
If you’re going to accuse someone of something, then link to the tweet in question. Otherwise you’re just trolling.
They can’t link to the tweet, they’d get in trouble.
And it is just trolling.
There was another thread with the tweet linked.
So link to that thread then.
what did the tweet say? i don’t have anyone from blizzard on my social media. i don’t want to see them spamming stuff about things i don’t care about. i think i have 5? friends on twitter tbh.
I agree. He’s allowed to think whatever he wants about us, I just don’t think posting it publicly on social media, where we can all see it and we know who he is, is the best idea.
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The world is no longer cleanly divided into public and private spaces. I want to live in a world where people have the freedom to think and communicate. I think that means everyone needs to back off and give each other a little space and a little room to breath and not hold a megaphone of drama to every possible overheard word.
Dunno, that’s a touchy choice for me. I’m of the opinion that separate accounts would be more ideal – one for off-the-clock stuff where the employee is indemnified against such and can block anyone they won’t wish to hear from, and another intended for on-the-clock stuff.
I think that used to be how Blizzard did it, too – not really sure why they stopped.