Input/Output: Rules for the Digital Age

Written by Josh Martin

There have always been rules regarding business and personal use of technology. These rules generally agree you should keep them separate. But with all these new technologies and services, it can be hard to know what is acceptable, and what isn’t. Is it ok to add your co-workers on Facebook as friends?  What about on Twitter or Google+? Is it acceptable to hand out your personal email or cell number? Today we will discuss what is generally accepted, and a few good choices you can make.

Ever since Facebook went public, it has been an unstoppable force. Everyone and their mother have a Facebook profile, even my own mother. Chances are high that most, if not all, of your co-workers are on Facebook. It’s inevitable; you are going to get a friend request from a co-worker at some point. How should you respond to this? It is usually a good Idea to deny these requests, simply for the fact of keeping your personal life separate. You can of course accept these friend requests, but do so at your own risk. When you add co-workers on Facebook, they can see and participate in conversations with your friends and family. You may not want this sort of interaction. This rule applies to most social network sites, including MySpace and Twitter. The only unknown here is Google+; it’s so new it is hard to tell. It is probably safe to apply the same rule for the time being.

If you have a work email, is it safe to hand out your personal email to your co-workers? This is probably less dangerous than adding them on Facebook, but it still may not be the best idea. Your inbox may get flooded by junk that your co-worker likes to forward. Nobody likes the guy who forwards 80 emails a day, and everyone has a friend or co-worker who does it. You can avoid the junk by keeping your email private.

Here is the big one: your personal cell phone or home phone. If you have a work cell phone, then your boss probably expects you to have it on you most of the time. Your co-workers can reach you this way. If you don’t have a work cell number, it can be hard to avoid handing out a personal number. There is an alternate though: Google Voice. Google will give you a free phone number to attach to your personal phone. You can hand out the Google voice number and it will ring to any phone you choose. This makes life much easier. Google Voice:  https://www.google.com/voice

 

You don’t have to shut your co-workers out of your personal life, but you can definitely control the amount of room they have in it. Use the comments below to discuss ways you can keep work and personal life separate and safe in the technology age.