Should universities regulate employees' social media use and opinions?

If you haven't read about the Kansas Board of Regent's attempt to create new social media policies, catch up for a second by reading this piece from Inside Higher Ed.

Although this topic came out in December, there have been several opinion pieces written about it since. It's clear that these policies were a quick band aid approach to covering the bases for further employee terminations resulting from undesirable tweets, posts or comments made by university employees. The board defended their policy,

"Because of the proliferation of social media use for communication purposes, and its particular susceptibility to misuse and damage to our universities, the board believes that a provision outlining improper uses of social media will be beneficial to all parties and uphold the universities’ need to operate in an efficient and effective manner."

Despite this justification, there are several concerning points of this policy. Part of the policy suggests that the improper use of social media include "the incitement of violence and the disclosure of confidential student information." Arguably the most rational part of the policy. However there is also a clause in the policy that describes offenses that are much more unclear. For instance, social media use that is “contrary to the best interests of the university,” or that impairs “discipline by superiors or harmony among co-workers,” or that “adversely affects the university’s ability to efficiently provide services" are all red flags that suggest limitations on the first amendment.

After almost 2 months of outrage and protests by faculty members at Kansas universities, the Chronicle of Higher Education recently published a news brief that suggests the Board of Regents is considering altering and reviewing the policies after receiving a letter signed by 80 professors. 

How does the first amendment protect citizens use of social media? Should there be some restrictions and policies in place by employers? How much monitoring and policing is too much?

Of all the minutes spent on the Internet, 15.8 percent of those minutes are spent on Facebook which averages to 351 minutes per user on the social network a month. With social media becoming increasingly prevalent in society, businesses and education, how can companies leverage employees versus silence them?

For your reference here is a summary of social media statistics from 2013. Click on the image to enlarge it.

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230488

The Battle of "Social Asks"

I came across this info graphic through Alltop--one of Guy Kawasaki's sites. Info graphics always draw me in since I am a visual learner. After reviewing the numbers and stats, I started to think a little more about the idea of a social ask. Is it overused? Well, yes of course. But is it necessarily a bad thing? Now with the complete infusion of social media in our day to day lives, we are able to do everything from share our latest thought of the day, picture of a meal, preferences, or even direct location with the click of a mouse or even more likely, the swipe of a finger on an iPhone or iPad. The ability to do this is one feat in itself, but the practice of doing this voluntarily is remarkable. Human beings want to connect with other human beings in that social level. I believe people want to bond, connect and share opinions within their circle of friends, acquaintances or even followers for social acceptance/validation. So as we are inundated with thousands of pieces of useless information about our friends and acquaintances through Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Loopt and other social media platforms--is the social ask really bad? Not really. If anything, we have trained ourselves to view the social ask not as negative, but rather empowering. We have the ability to say "yes" I like you, this product, this cause, or this event or to say "no" I don't. Now more than ever, companies and organizations have the ability to get direct, instant feedback from their customers, clients and members. The social ask may be overused, but I don't think anyone is running away from social media due to the several asks a day. Instead, people have trained themselves to make these decisions quicker and more efficiently, or to refuse to make a decision at all. Since people are constantly overwhelmed with social asks, there are many asks that are overlooked. Social asks may be growing, but I don't think it's a negative thing for users, if anything it will just cause people to be more selective and decisive.