Help a Reader Out
I’m calling upon you guys to help a fellow HR Bartender reader with a situation. Here goes:
Jim (that’s not the person’s real name…BTW) is a senior manager, executive type who is currently employed. He’s out on the social media networks building relationships and doing all the right stuff. To this point, Jim has kept the conversation ‘all business’. Now that Jim is starting to get to know more people, he feels comfortable and wants to start including a little more ‘personal stuff’ in the conversation.
That’s perfectly cool, right? I mean, that’s what social media is all about…being yourself and engaging others.
But Jim wants to know if there are any absolute taboo subjects. The old school has always told us to steer clear of sex, religion, and politics in business interactions. Does that rule still apply to social media in a transparent world?
Let’s create an example: Since it was just International Talk Like a Pirate Day last week and I forgot to blog about it…I’ll use a pirate joke:
A pirate walks into the bar with a ship’s wheel attached to the front of his trousers. The bartender asks, “What the hell is that ships wheel for?” The pirate says, “I don’t know, but it’s drivin’ me nuts!”
Is a joke like this one (not exactly Reader’s Digest material but I also wouldn’t expect it to be in the next issue of Hustler) acceptable? I have to think Jim isn’t the only person wondering about situations like this, so I’m posing the question to my readers.
Got any personal guidelines or pearls of wisdom? Oh and, I’m curious to know if you think the rules change when looking for a new job? Please drop some thoughts in the comments below.
Thanks in advance for sharing and helping Jim out!
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