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In another example of people forgetting to apply common sense when using social media, employees of St. Joseph’s and Candler Hospitals, a health provider in Georgia USA were disciplined after digital images of a patient’s X-Ray were posted on Facebook – having previously been photographed on a mobile phone and shared via text message.

The employee who posted the image was initially disciplined but not dismissed though later left the organisation. The images were removed from Facebook. While no personal details were compromised on the Internet, the “digital image of a male patient’s pelvic region” was later received by the Savannah Morning News with an anonymous letter – providing evidence the image had been shared via phones – sparking a further investigation.

The final conclusions of the managers investigating were that there was no breach of federal patient privacy protection laws but the incident did represent a violation of hospital policies.

As a result of the new investigation, three employees were dismissed and subsequently the hospitals have issued reminders for employees about the need for care and attention to standards of behaviour when using social media.

Once again, the boundary between personal or private behaviour and individually professional responsibility and accountability has become blurred and social media technology has “trapped” people – with their inappropriate behaviour becoming all too public.

Organisations display very different reactions to “Web 2.0″ – the emerging technologies which support unstructured, informal interaction across networks and organisational boundaries.

Managers and technicians can see both possibilities and risks ahead. Those responsible for maintaining existing infrastructure may see more negatives than developers and strategists.

The response varies from paranoia to unreasoned fanaticism. In a world where everyone wants to contribute to the conversation, is there any way to tell who’s right and judge how to move forward? Read the rest of this entry →

Highlighting the dangers of losing privacy, Dr Aleks Krotoski pointed out in the BBC programme “Virtual Revolution” cyberspace is, in fact, a public space.

This fact is often forgotten when people are using technology in the “privacy” of their own home.

Perhaps the most extreme case of a failure to apply common sense and good judgement using Facebook have involved professionals in healthcare, where our expectations of behaviour and patient confidentiality demand the highest standards of conduct. Read the rest of this entry →

The last couple of years have seen a number of cases where employees have got themselves into deep water over their use of social media.

Having overstepped boundaries people have been facing charges of misconduct and disciplinary action.

These cases suggest to some, new concerns about social media are emerging

In fact cases of social media outrage emerged soon after new tools became available – yes, people misbehaved even before Facebook existed! Read the rest of this entry →

The curse of social networking in the workplace strikes again as postings emerged on Facebook showing three young women posing for photos wearing police hats, high-visibility jackets and boots … inside a police station.

With today’s modern technology, a camera in every phone plus immediate and widespread publication over the internet, the dangers inherant in relaxed and unguarded moments are greater than ever. Read the rest of this entry →

Social networking activity is in the dock once again with the Journal of the American Medical Association reporting the results of a study with US medical schools.

Apparently, more than half of US medical schools taking part in the study had reported students posting “unprofessional content” online – with 10% of these cases containing clear violations of patient confidentiality.

It is not clear, from news coverage, how frequently such cases are occurring.

The medical schools were reported to have insufficiently clear and strong policy frameworks in place for handling such cases though some incidents were serious enough to lead to dismissal from medical school.

Dr Katherine Chretien of Washington DC VA Medical Center, leading the study, suggests a worrying lack of awareness by students about the potential dangers and consequences of unguarded comments on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Confidentiality breaches, in some cases, were considered unintentional – though it is hard to see how the need for medical confidentiality could be understood to be anything less than paramount.

It seems employers are now as sensitive to “productivity risks” posed by social networking and online shopping as they have been about security risks and pornography.

Recently, social networking sites like Twitter, Myspace and Bebo, their multimedia equivalent such as Flickr and YouTube – and especially Facebook, have been in the news -

• Portsmouth City Council restricted staff from using Facebook during office hours after employees spent the equivalent of 71 working days on the site in a single month,
• NHS staff were suspended from duty after posting photos on the “Lying Down Game” on Facebook – with allegations of unprofessional behaviour and breaches of infection control policy,
• Argyll and Bute council banned teachers from Twitter after a secondary school teacher was found using the site 20 times a day – allegedly criticising management colleagues and making inappropriate comments about pupils,
• Employees working for the Dixons group faced disciplinary action when found making “insulting comments” about their customers.

There are certainly risks and problems with such technology and employees should be expected to understand the need for, and demonstrate, good judgement here, as in many other areas of working life. Established employment case law shows an employer can take a view about employees’ conduct outside the workplace.

Read the rest of this entry →