Is a glass of wine really that unprofessional?

[Notss]

Hello all,

I was on a social Zoom with a few of my friends from work last night; and one of the things we were discussing was our social media policy. In general; we are not supposed to mention work at all, should be set to private, do not friend clients and basically not post anything that will “bring the company into disrepute.”

That said a lot of us have “work” Twitters, separate from personal ones; where we stick our qualifications and postscripts in the bios and comment on developments in the sector / support others and so on...

Anyway - one of my colleagues said that when she first joined the company she was asked to change her profile picture on Facebook because it was unprofessional. Her account was locked down, and if you weren’t her friend all could see was her name and this picture. In the picture she was sat a table, smiling and holding a glass of wine.

The general consensus of our conversation; was that this picture wasn’t unprofessional in any way; and that it’s not unprofessional to have a picture taken of you in a wine bar; or with a cocktail at the beach or having a beer with your mates or whatever.

As a secondary issue; one of the friends on the call was a senior manager (who agreed with us) and he said that when he was first promoted to his post he was taken aside by another member of the senior team and advised to delete all of his “middle management colleagues” off his Facebook. He did, as this was his first senior role and he felt it was more than just advice; but over a few months ended up re-friending us; as to quote him “You’re actually my friends, not just my colleagues.”

I’d be interested to hear the thoughts on both issues!

Thanks all.

What’s weird here is why a group of professionals have to add their friends on Facebook. You’re friendship can continue without it.

But yes a glass of wine isn’t unprofessional especially as lots of companies host client drinks etc

I suspect the fact that I just do not care about this stuff is one reason I will never rise to the echelons of senior management.

Have whatever friends you like on whatever platform you like, and any photo you like as long as it isn't NSFW. Absolutely get not badmouthing or even mentioning your employer online, not breaking confidentiality etc, that's just common sense, but hate the idea that your employer should dictate what profile pic you have and who your friends are online.

I'm not on Facebook (and thank god!)

Who on earth at your company is going through Facebook and seeing all of this??

Wow! I thought my workplace was strict! At the last place I worked, we had a very similar social media policy where everyone was told their actions would be linked to the company's reputation, so behave yourselves in public, but sitting upright and smiling with a wine glass would have been perfectly ok. In fact most staff were expected to attend drinks reception type things for clients so that would have been in keeping with the company's image. I can't imagine how a photo as you describe could negatively impact a company's reputation, unless every employee was required to be teetotal?? Sounds like the manager who told them to take their photo down panicked, had there been some sort of incident that made them a hit nervous about social media?

When I first started at my last job my new manager sent a friend request to my personal FB account .
I declined the the friend , he emailed me soon after to ask why i had declined ( I didnt even know people can see you have declined them ) I said ,
you are my boss , not my friend
I like to keep my social and work life separate ,
if you contact me via FB ( we didnt work in the same building ) and my colleges see me of FB they will presume I am not working .

He then accused me of having a unprofessional profile picture ( its my dog )

So I would say leave the picture as it is , it would be different if it was a company FB account but even then I dont think it would have to be changed providing she doesn't look all glassy eyed and drunk

I don’t see how it’s unprofessional when a lot of industries run on going out for drinks etc

I used to be in the theatre/acting world - there was a lot of professional fronting that fell away when everyone went out for drinks, coke and stroking each other’s egos in a very OTT way. Then the in the cold light of day everyone acts all professional again 🙈

That said I do think it’s always a good idea to have a ‘professional’ online persona and a more carefully hidden real one

That’s strict! I wouldn’t think that to be unprofessional at all surely you’re allowed a personal life.
Years ago I got promoted at the bank to financial advisor and my new boss told me I wasn’t allowed to have lunch or socialise with anyone apart from senior management. It was awful I was stuck in my little office all the time. I left soon after.

I would have a real problem with my work attempting to police my personal social media. What I do and think on my own time is absolutely none of their fucking business. Obviously I won't call them a bunch of cunts but beyond that? Nope, fuck off, I'll say and do what I want.

Is it an American company? Just the alcohol thing made me wonder.

I have a ‘work Facebook’ in my married name and my original personal Facebook in my maiden name. I only ever access the work on from my work laptop not my personal mobile so there is never a confusion about which is open. Best to keep both separate at all times.

Who on earth at your company is going through Facebook and seeing all of this??

A friend of my son-in-law almost missed out on a job as the interviewing panel couldn't see his Facebook or any social media, they refused to believe that he doesn't have an account, other than whatsapp.

I think there is a balance to be struck here. If you are easy to find on Facebook and you don't keep your profile locked down so people can see what you post, you are potentially taking a big risk. If someone posts something on social media which can be seen by a wider group of people and which potentially creates a link between what they post and their employer which could be seen in a negative way, the employer is entitled to be concerned about that.

I used to be a civil servant and I have posted a lot of political stuff on Facebook. I knew it was a risk when I was doing it. I haven't had my full name on my Facebook profile for years, my profile was locked down, I didn't refer to what I did for a living or post about work, and I had very few colleagues as Facebook friends. But it was probably still borderline.

I am no longer a civil servant but I also don't post about politics as much as I used to because to be honest I'm a bit bored with it all at the moment. But even if I did, it wouldn't matter so much because I no longer work in that area. I still don't have my full name on Facebook, my profile is still locked down, and I have added maybe three of my colleagues as Facebook friends after a few years of working together. In the very unlikely event that my boss or someone else from work found my Facebook profile, they wouldn't be able to see anything except my profile picture. But if they commented about me holding an alcoholic drink (which I am in some of my profile pictures) or told me I shouldn't be friends with colleagues on there, I would think they were completely batshit and overstepping the mark.