to be annoyed about employee on FB?

[unidentifiednonflyingobject]

For health reasons I need someone to look after our DC. Is it unreasonable for me to be irritated when I can see that she is regularly online using FB when looking after our children whilst out-and-about?
If you think I am NBU, should I say something? It shrieks of weird internet stalker behaviour when actually I can just see the green light by her name!

[phantomnamechanger]

erm, unless she is totally ignoring them and letting them run wild, what's the problem? You can FB (or indeed, MN) while still keeping an eye on kids playing on the park and stuff!

[JoannaBaxterIsARudeFucker]

My mobile seems to show me as being on FB all the time. Even when I'm not.

So I wouldn't do/say anything rash TBH.

[HarderToKidnap]

How old are your kids? I think it's fine to take them to the park and let them loose, or soft play. Plus she could be logged on on her phone but not looking at Facebook. Are your kids happy with her?

[SourSweets]

Sometimes it leaves you logged in even if you're not actually using it. If if looks like she's on there all the time then that might be why. Is she actively posting etc in that time? If she was I'd be inclined to comment "get back to work!"

[orangepudding]

Is she posting through out the day or just online? If she has it on her mobile the green light may be on whether she is looking at it or not.

[QuietNinjaTardis]

Does that just mean you're logged in though? I'm permanently logged in because fb is on my iPad and I'm always logged on. This might look like I'm permanently on Facebook when really I only look at it a couple of times a day for a min or two.

[KirjavaTheCorpse]

I'm always online when I'm not, because I don't log out on my phone. Is she liking things, posting statuses and engaging in public conversations every five minutes, or is she just online?

[AngelsLieToKeepControl]

I have the app on my tablet and the green light is on all the time. I have to switch chat off to show me as offine so it looks like I am on 24/7 when I am only on about once a week.

[GoldiChops]

My friend told me off for not saying hi or replying to stuff on FB. When I wasn't on. Turns out it always seems to say I'm on- even when I'm miles from my off computer. Are you 100% she is actually on and using? Maybe she leaves her laptop on a home with the window open, or anything!

[NicknameIncomplete]

If she is always posting on FB when she is working I would have a word however as others have said she could just be logged in but not actually using it.

[mercibucket]

the green light means pretty much nothing

it will make you sound petty and controlling if that is all you are going on

[ShatnersEmptyCatacomb]

Are you certain she's constantly active on Facebook?

[mercibucket]

if she is an employee though, not a childminder, i guess you could put 'no use of social media' in the contract

[KhunZhoop]

If they ban using the internet whilst looking after children, MN will be an extremely dull place.

[usualsuspect]

The green light means nothing.

[usualsuspect]

I'm always getting messages from people who think I'm on line when I'm not.

[Groovee]

The green light means nothing. It doesn't mean she is on facebook unless she is actually posting and you can see that!

[unidentifiednonflyingobject]

Thanks for the green light insight! I can actually see stuff she has done. I guess it's a bigger picture than just FB though. But wanted to check this particular issue out with MNers who would know!

[unidentifiednonflyingobject]

HardertoKidnap: they are not old enough to be left unwatched! Oh well.

[UncleT]

I would think it rather depends on the extent of her activity. If she's posting all the time then clearly it's not acceptable. If it's the occasional post in a quieter moment, there really are worse things that happen at sea. As everyone else has already said, ignore the green light.

[hettienne]

Do you have anything about using social media during work hours in the nanny's contract?

Do you know the exact circumstances when she is using her phone? Might be while children are napping, or while she is supervising them in the sandpit/at softplay.

Seems a bit odd to be FB friends with your nanny tbh. I think you need to keep the relationship professional.

[SlangKing]

I'm not sure if this is true for smartphones, but for PC's - If you have an always-on connection there are only TWO ways to log out of FB and its ilk. 1 - Logging out of FB on their logout button. 2 - Closing your browser. If you turn off your PC or it crashes, answering YES to any "do you want to continue your session" message will log you back in even if you don't revisit the site. Navigating away in the same window/tab won't log you out. Anomalies aside (ISP crashes/resets, piddling around with your modem/IP number) if you don't do 1 or 2 (above) you could potentially be logged into FB for all eternity,, even if all you ever did there was register. An FB user's activity is the only indication of the time they spend there.

[Unexpected]

Does your nanny get an uninterrupted lunch hour or break during the day? Most childcarers don't and have to grab some down time where they can find it. Although FB may show that your nanny is constantly on-line while she is not, would it really be so awful if she grabbed a minute here and there to post something or upload a pic while at the park with your children? Most people could do that even while guiding a child down a slide or wiping their nose. Is it really so awful if your children are sitting in front of her eating lunch, for instance?

This sounds like just the tip of a bigger iceberg.

[MmeLindor]

I don't think that you are being unreasonable to question this, but I do think that even young children don't need to be watched all the time.

If she is only posting occasionally, and not long complicated updates, then I don't see the problem.

You should really cover this in your contract though. I'd have a word with her about using Social Media - also clear up if you are ok with her sharing pics of your DC online etc.

[Icelollycraving]

I wouldn't be impressed to be honest. If it's constant updates that's different to chat being visible. Are you fb friends or are you fb spying?!