How can businesses stop internal cyberbullying?
A recent study from Web security firm AVG found that about half of workers feel that social media has encroached on their office privacy in some way.
If you think cyberbullying is something that only happens to teenagers, think again.
A recent survey of 4,000 adults from Web security firm AVG found that more than half feel that social media has whittled away their privacy at work. Some felt far more victimized: 11 percent said they’ve been embarrassed by photos or videos from work events, 15 percent said they’ve been insulted via social media by a manager or colleague, one-third of respondents felt obligated to accept friend requests even though they didn’t want to.
In its blog post sharing the results, AVG offers two methods for dealing with these issues. For one, it suggests the often-repeated advice that employees should take steps to build a professional online persona, setting boundaries for work relationships. The other advice is to employers: Set guidelines for how employees use social media.
How do you pull that off without being too restrictive? Social media, HR, and communications experts offered their ideas.
Training
Jonathan Rick, president of Jonathan Rick Group, offers a few suggestions for ways to educate employees regarding social media etiquette. First, he says, get the HR department involved.
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