Advice Made Available For Social Media Users In Light Of Jail Sentences

In light of prison sentences given to two British men, Protostar Leadership Development, a UK management consultancy is issuing a free 8 page guidance booklet for organisations to give to employees who have access to the internet. Covering everything from cyber bullying to the safe use of Facebook, it is hoped that readers will avoid some of the potential risks of using the internet and in particular, social media.

Durham, UK (PRWEB UK) 22 August 2011

Michael Coates, Managing Director of Protostar Leadership Development, said "While ending up in jail because in a drunken moment you set up a nasty Facebook site, is at the extreme of how social media can impact you, people should be aware of more common issues. Only this week one of my clients showed me the drunken Facebook photos of a job applicant and immediately said that they were not to be interviewed. I was going to push back but the fact that this applicant had allowed the world unrestricted access to their Facebook photos, did show a terrible lack of judgment."

Monitoring Facebook and other social media for information about potential and existing employees is becoming far more common and individuals should assume that anything they put online might be seen by their employer, customers, potential employers and it would seem, the police.

Michael Coates points out another common error, " Posting messages visible to everyone, that were intended for an individual is a basic but easy mistake. Whether you are a US politician, sending photos of yourself naked or threatening to blow up an airport because of its closure due to snow, allowing these messages to go public, is inevitably going to lead to major problems.

So why is a Managing Director who spends most days providing executive coaching, sending out this warning cry? Michael Coates is clear on this one, "One of the fastest growing areas of our business is helping organisations to educate their employees on the perils of using the internet, particularly at work. Whether it be data sticks full of medical records found in a supermarket car park, YouTube videos of doctors sleeping on the job, or bullying colleagues by posting remarks on their web pages, seemingly minor incidents generally end up as PR disasters for the organisations and the end of a career for the individual. Just as some of the rioters probably had a mad moment and didn't think, each day employees spend time using the internet at work and many will be doing things that could equally end up being a disaster for them."

To help organisations educate their employees on the potential risks of misusing the internet while at work, Michael's consultancy, Protostar Leadership Development have produced a free 8 page booklet that can be downloaded from http://protostar-uk.com/InternetAtWork.aspx

Michael Coates commented "it won't stop stupid people from rioting but it might just stop a naive person making a major career mistake."

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Michael Coates
Protostar Leadership Development
+44 (0)191-3855455
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