“Someone from HR will be going home with you this weekend to listen in and watch everything you do.How does that sound? Oh.Well then how about you give us all of your social media logins and just agree that we’ll track everything you do online. Of course, outside of the office, too. And outside work hours. All that.”

I’m happy to report that I don’t know this scenario depicts real life anywhere, but I can tell you it’s up for consideration. On his freesourceagency blog, Nathan Egan explains his (unnamed) client’s request to devise a plan for monitoring all employee social media activity. You can read my comment I wrote there, but I’ll sum it up here: Are you kidding me?!

There are plenty of reasons why such a move by any organization, save for maybe the CIA, is a bad one, but the mere idea of it exemplifies just how new/scary/confusing/alarming the social media landscape can feel to those not dug into it. I recognize that Joe Employee flaming his company at a 20-person barbecue is not quite the same as if he flames said company via his blog or other web-based communication. I guess that can be scary, but it’s still just one voice. Mr. Company Owner, do you have that little faith in your products, services, or people? What are you afraid of? Corporate secrecy can be handled by NDAs. Corporate culture and morale should be handled by leadership. Playing Big Brother to your employees is no way to handle anything. How about a little trust or respect? It might earn it in return.