Some hidden dangers to Linked In
Image by Mexicanwave via FlickrOver the last few weeks there have been some interesting things happening over at linked in that can make someone just a tad bit nervous about social networking. While not bad in their own right, if you are using any social network, these are things to think about.
Job Hunting – Linked in has become a great place to job shop, it provides a more intimate and direct way of looking for a job, but here is the risk. If your profile is up to date, and you are connected to your co-workers, then shopping for a job on linked in might just be the stupidest thing you can do to yourself this week. Usually we are linked to our friends on the site, some of those friends work for your current company. If you want to tip your friends off, which then becomes a topic of conversation at work, which then leads to embarrassing conversations with your manager, and then you might want to think twice before you go and say “Looking for a new job, must be cool”.
Lurking Reporters – this one is disturbing. Usually with linked in you can ask questions of your friends, but those questions can also be public within a group, or public to linked in depending on how you set your permissions. Recently a reporter for an on line magazine asked a question, but did not disclose that they were a reporter, nor that the answers to the question was research for an article they were writing. Usually reporters will say “I got this from someone” but sometimes they will use the name and the company affiliation to help add credibility to their article. Usually this ends up being bad for everyone involved, as most companies have very strict rules about talking to reporters.
While the reporter did eventually disclose that they were a reporter, these kinds of events, if he did not disclose, and people just carried on thinking that they were having a quiet talk with one of their friends, had the potential to seriously jeopardize someone’s job. With the market the way it is right now, a lurking reporter on Linked In can be an employee’s nightmare.
While social networking over all can be a fun and rewarding experience, these are just a couple of uses that are happening on linked in, and if you are not aware of them can cost the employee a lot. You might not want to answer your friends questions unless you really know who they are. And you might not want to go job shopping on Linked in until you are really fired, and really unemployed.
Tags: linkedin, danger, lurking reporter, reporter, job shopping, employment, social network, idiot
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Some of these risks are obvious and easy to avoid. If your looking for a new job then adding ‘I am looking for a new job’ on your status is likely to cause issues.
You can use networks like Linked’in to get in touch with relevant people on a discrete basis - but if you plaster ‘I want a new gig’ all over your profile then you must realise the risk. Its like wearing a sandwich board and walking up and down outside your office ’saying I want work’.
Maybe if you suddenly update your profile after years of inactivity that may alert some colleagues that something is going on - but then all you need do is check your privacy settings
Participating in forums and blogs and Linked’in Answers etc regardless of whether a participant is an ‘undercover journalist’ or not means you put information in the public domain. You should not disclose private information that belongs to your company FULL STOP. That is common sense but if you forgot I suggest you look at your employment contract. The issue is similar with emails - when you put something in an email it can be forwarded on and is very hard to delete. So think before you type.
There may be some circumstances where you want to say something but because you work for X company or hold Y position it could be interpreted as you speaking for th company. In which case you should make it clear that you are speaking for yourself and not your company - your company email and blog policy normally have rules on this.
Most of this is easily avoidable - are people really that naive. A little reminder of the risks does no harm but surely it is just use common sense.