SBS presenter Scott McIntyre’s sacking over Anzac tweets another example of the blurring of personal and professional lives

It seems obvious to say that our personal life should be separate from our professional life. However, the recent example of SBS presenter Scott McIntyre’s sacking over “inappropriate and disrespectful” ANZAC tweets demonstrates how social media blurs our lives.

Although Hugh Riminton of Channel 10 defended McIntyre’s right to free speech though not the comments, it reveals that when you are an employee of an organisation the line between personal and professional is a fine line particularly when you can be dismissed from your job.

This line continues to become greyer and as an employee this restricts your capacity to state your opinion. When you sign up with an organisation you automatically represent that organisation and part of this means abiding by that organisation’s Code of Conduct or other employment policies.

A portion of organisations these days encourage their employees to participate in social media particularly if you work in PR or marketing. This can be tricky particularly if the organisation you work for doesn’t have a Social Media Policy. Where are the boundaries that an employee can’t cross? Should an employee try to maintain a distinction between personal and professional? There is an argument that you really can’t separate your professional and personal life so why try? However, where does this leave the employee?

There is no magic formula to separating your personal from your professional life other than choosing not to be on social media. And this is an unrealistic expectation.

For employers that encourage their employees to be active on social media part of the responsibility lies with the employer to educate and train their employees on what is expected of them when they are on social media. Having a Social Media Policy without education leaves your organisation exposed and vulnerable to employees not understanding what is expected of them. It is in this space that a majority of negative situations arise.

For employees you don’t have to be in the public spotlight to be impacted. Here are some tips worth remembering:

•  avoid comments that can be seen as offensive, sexist or racist (remember there are also laws that impact in these areas)
• be mindful with what you share on social media when it comes to your personal opinion
• avoid talking about sensitive topics such as pay raises, performance reviews, new projects
• don’t divulge commercially sensitive information
• be sensible with the language you use – i.e make sure the language isn’t threatening

Your social media networks are likely to be filled with friends and family and also colleagues, clients and stakeholders. So take a moment and think before you post.

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Tags: social media and bubsiness • social media and the blurring of personal and professional lives • social media in the workplace • social media risk audit • Social Media Risks