When and when not to speak

Black and white: everyone should participate in social media

Shades of grey: not everything should be discussed and in many cases, people should consider participation carefully to avoid difficult situations. For example:

• Doctors blogging about their patients
• Teachers blogging about their students
• CSRs tweeting from personal accounts that their customers are stupid

There's nothing new in venting about one's job. The problem lies in experimental use of new communications channels. Discretion used to be default; conversations were limited to the examination room, teacher's lounge, and water cooler. We kept them out of the elevator, hallways, and bullpen.

Policy is your safety net, but an organization needs training to teach people when and when not to speak.

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