Is my Social Media Account Really Personal?

Prof. Kanchan Akshay
Assistant Professor,
DR V N BRIMS, Thane.

Rajiv, a young post graduate in management (MBA Marketing) recently completed his degree and got an outstanding placement in top 5 companies from his college. He is a very bright student and always out performs in his team. He is always updated on current industry news and is very active on social media. He spends 2 hours in the entire day on social media and shares various valuable posts and comments on current issues for which he usually gets appreciation and positive remarks from his friends and peers. But today Rajiv is very sad and heartbroken as he has lost his job. What happened overnight? Such a performer and bright student cannot be terminated…what could be the issue?
Let us rewind 24hours back and understand what happened with Rajiv. Unlike everyday Rajiv came to the office at 9:30 a.m. in the morning and greeted everyone with his appealing personality and smile. He immediately got a message from the receptionist that boss was waiting to see him. He entered the boss’s cabin with a smile and notices that his boss was siting in a very serious and agitated mode. Confused Rajiv asked his boss about the reason for his mood to which he replied that He was upset with Rajiv and never expected he would do something like this. He always considered Rajiv to be a very matured and sensible person but this behavior has not only put him down but also marked his thinking and approach towards women. Previous night Rajiv had commented and posted something absurd about a woman on his Facebook page. His remarks were showing his impertinence towards women and their contribution in the society. His statements were purely male dominated and had disregard against the women who are working equally and hand in hand with men today. His boss told him that due to his such remarks company has thought of taking an action and has decided to terminate him on an immediate basis. Rajiv tried to explain his boss and intentions and also stated that it was his personal social media account where he has right to express his views but boss was not willing to listen to any of his explanations and asked him to leave.
We all have become slaves of social media today. We are unable to spend our day or even an hour without checking our social media accounts. In all this we often forget what life we live in and what impact this social media is doing on our personal and professional life. Here Rajiv never thought that his social media would destroy his career. Every organization should make some social media policies, unlike its other policies for employees and most importantly share the same with its employees so that they know what would be the consequences.

Article by
Prof Kanchan A