Kiwis worried about spread of social media

Wairarapa businesses are being urged to develop policies to protect workers from office cyber-bullying - particularly with the rise of digital information technology in the workplace.

Six-out-of-10 Kiwi workers believe their workplace privacy has been eroded with the proliferation of social media, a new study reveals.

Offensive emails, the uploading of embarrassing photos and even unwanted romantic advances have infiltrated the workplace with often negative effects for employees. Many now limit their use of social networking sites as a result, the AVG Technologies' Digital Work Life study found.

Local human resources consultant Gracie Howard from Keystone Talent said that with the growing use of IT in modern workplaces, businesses were advised to have a policy on cyber-bullying.

"I guess the prudent way to look at it is, what are they allowed to do in the workplace during work hours, and generally speaking, a lot of employees know that people are going to look at things like Facebook during their lunch break."

Ms Howard said while none of her Wairarapa clients had reported instances of cyber-bullying, it was only a matter of time. "What does happen, is internal emails can be misconstrued or be offensive to the person receiving them."

Employers needed to "get smart" with their social media policies to prevent any disharmony in the workplace, she said.

Employees looking for a new job also needed to be prudent about their social media presence as employers increasingly checked Facebook and LinkedIn pages when doing background checks, Ms Howard said.

The study found one-in-10 respondents had discovered secret discussions initiated by colleagues about them online and 9 per cent had embarrassing photos or videos from work events uploaded on the web.

Nine-out-of-10 respondents believed sending unpleasant or defamatory remarks to or about a colleague using digital communications constituted cyber-bullying. Other forms included posting negative comments on social media about a colleague's appearance and criticising fellow workers behind their back through email, instant messaging, or social media.

NetSafe executive director Martin Cocker said workplace cyber-bullying appeared common. However, specific cyber-bullying policies were rare and most computer-based work environments needed clearer guidelines around the use of digital communications and social media.

"Wherever there's technology and there's people then there tends to be a bit of cyber-bullying."

The study also found 4 per cent of respondents had found themselves subjected to unwanted online romantic advances. APNZ