Now, I never tried Foursquare for several reasons. One, I don’t care about badges unless they’re the result of selling Thin Mints. Two, being mayor seems like too much responsibility, what with all the scissors for the ribbon cutting ceremonies and “mayor” sashes I would undoubtedly have to buy with my own money.

But Facebook, with it’s difficult-to-figure-out privacy settings, will probably make it difficult not to participate in Facebook Places. Because even if I don’t tag myself, that doesn’t mean that my friends won’t tag me.

Doctor’s orders!

In theory, Facebook Places sounds cool. You can find some cool new restaurants, find out that you and your neighbor are at supermarket at the same time, and stalk your exes.

Of course, people will also know you’re not home and can rob you. Especially if you check in somewhere nowhere close to home, like an ice cream shop across the country while you’re on vacation. Hope you check in at the homeowner’s insurance place, buddy.

Well anyway, if you’re a human resources manager, you should be loving this Facebook Places program. Because now, sick days will only be able to be taken if the employee is actually sick.

Yup, if an employee calls out sick. Check his or her Facebook page. The movie theater he checked into doesn’t look like the doctor’s office. The beach snack shop doesn’t look like the pharmacy.

Even if he’s smart and doesn’t check himself in doesn’t mean that his delinquent friends wont.

And then he’s busted!

There you go. Facebook, which has made slacking off in the office easier, has now made slacking off out of the office a lot more difficult.

Thanks a lot, Facebook!

So, what do you think about Facebook Places? Are you going to check in? Do you think the program will make people more honest about their sick days? How else could Facebook Places affect employees?

By Jessica Livingston

I’ve crowd surfed. I’ve sang along until I was hoarse. I’ve paid $9 for Bud Light (Bud “Flavored Water” Light!).

See that dot in the very back? That could have been me. Sigh.

So, you can imagine my delight when, Saturday, I got an e-mail alert on my iPhone that Pearl Jam, a completely awesome band I’ve never seen live, was going on tour. And tickets were going on sale the next day!

I set my alarm to wake me up early (no easy feat on a Sunday, I might add) so I could get tickets. When the clock struck 9, I was already poised over my keyboard, my credit card in hand.

And there were no tickets available.

I expected the concert to sell out quickly, but I thought I’d at least be able to get nosebleed seats.

I checked the e-mail that I received the previous day. It did indeed say “Pearl Jam Tickets On Sale Tomorrow!” Problem was, the e-mail was sent Friday. I just didn’t receive it until Saturday.

Human Resources and Technology

Technology is great, especially for human resources. You can recruit through Facebook and LinkedIn. You can check out possible job candidates by looking at their online profiles. And you can do it all on your laptop while sitting on the beach of Turkes and Caicos (seriously, dude, stop doing work on your vacation and relax a bit!).

That said, technology should not replace basic human instinct and intelligence.

Maybe a job applicant’s online profile looks great, with all sorts of impressive details. But, if when you call in that person for an interview and he shows up 20 minutes late and is disheveled, you should trust your instinct that this person might not be right for the job.

Or, maybe you were expecting a call from a job applicant, but there were no messages. Don’t write the person off right away. Did you check your voicemail? Maybe your inbox was full and there was no room for new messages.

In human resources, technology should be used to supplement thinking and judgment, not replace it.

And if I had just read my e-mail instead of  just skimming the headline and trusting my iPhone to alert me to new mail when it comes in, I could have had Pearl Jam tickets in my hand right now.

That the person just, you know, goes on existing.

And, now that social media has infiltrated every aspect of our lives, not only do we get constant reminders that an ex somehow finds the courage to keep living, but we see that he or she is happy. Without you.

According to an article in The New York Times, “Status updates and tweets have a way of wending their way back to scorned exes, thanks to the interconnectedness of social media.”

You could always defriend the person. But, come on. You know you’re not going to. How else would you get to stalk your ex? Call and hang up? Sorry, caller ID made that move pretty much irrelevant. Late-night drive bys? A little creepy. And, if not being able to stalk an ex means living in a world no social media, well, I just don’t want to live in that world.

All the better to stalk you with, my dear.

This whole thing got me thinking about those who leave their jobs–voluntarily, or otherwise.

Again, social media is part of our everyday lives. Which means most of us have coworkers, managers, the big kahuna CEOs, etc. in our social media network. These connections don’t expire just because you’re no longer at the company.

And, like with exes, being updated on the lives of former coworkers can range from awesome (Ex boyfriend caught Herpes from new girlfriend and Former CEO is starting a new company and is asking his network if anyone’s interested in a job) to terrible (Love of your life, whom you’ve never gotten over, is getting married to your best friend, and Former boss found replacement employee, much better than what’s-his-name who used to work here).

Do you keep former employees in your Facebook and Twitter networks? In my opinion, you shouldn’t sever ties just because either you or a coworker left the company. You never know if that person will some day be hiring for a position you want or might know someone who would be perfect for a position you’re hiring for.

This is once again another reason to be careful when you’re posting on your personal social networking site. Remember: You never know who’s reading your status, and once it’s online, it’s there forever. Like exes.

Not in a crazy unabomber way, of course. I think social media is vital to today’s society, connecting friends, relatives, people who want to stalk their exes, all that. It has also become important for businesses, allowing recruiters to find job candidates, hiring managers to find out more about the people they’re interviewing and professionals to network.

My problem with social media is when it is used for inane reasons, or inappropriate times.

Probably shouldn’t update in the pool either. Chlorine isn’t good for your computer.

Face it, dude. We don’t need to read that you don’t like the snow, that you just took a nap, or that you have nothing to post about.

And call me old fashioned, but there are just times when you just shouldn’t Tweet or update your Facebook status. Like at a funeral. Mid coitus. Or during your own wedding.

That’s right. Some guy interrupted his wedding ceremony to Tweet and update his Facebook status that he was about to kiss the bride.

I guess the couple is a perfect match, because she didn’t kill him.

Personally, if my husband did that, I would have needed to update my status as well. Something along the lines of “Searching for a good divorce lawyer.”

Anyway, as I mentioned above, social media is vital in today’s business world. But there are times even at work when social media should not be utilized.

Here’s my list.

Four Times You Should Not Use Social Media at Work

1. During a meeting with your boss or coworkers. That’s just rude. During meetings, you should give your boss and colleagues respect. Plus you’ll get out of the meeting a lot faster if everyone doesn’t keep pausing to play on their smart phones. Then you can get back to your desk to Tweet about how boring the meeting was and how you think you should have your boss’ job. (Just kidding. That could get you fired.)

2. While you’re conducting an interview with a job applicant. The job applicant is the one who has to impress you, not the other way around, right? Not necessarily. If the job applicant is amazing and has a lot of companies fighting over him, she’s not going to look kindly on you or your company for being disrespectful to her.

3. While you’re doing a performance review. These things are stressful enough for employees. The employee doesn’t need to be paranoid that you’re writing something about him while waiting to hear that he’s not getting a raise. Wait for him to get back to his desk before you write, “Fred thought he was going to get a bonus. Fail! lol“

4. When you’re in the bathroom. Seriously, guy. Gross.

What do you think? When should people not use social media while at work? What do you do if you catch an employee using social media at work for non-work purposes?

*And, yes, I realize and appreciate the irony of using social media to both deliver this message and earn my livelihood.

Well, I’ve got your daily dose of schadenfreude.

A woman was recently fired for insulting her boss on Facebook.

And in a spectacular way, no less.

Not for idiots.

Not only did the woman insult her boss, but called him a pervy wanker on her status. And the boss responded…and fired her on Facebook for everyone to see!

How awesome is that? (And no, I do not have any sympthy for this woman. Yes, it’s terrible when you lose your job. But if you lose if for being an idiot, well, then you’re an idiot.)

I’ve talked about that job applicant getting his offer rescinded for badmouthing his new company on Twitter. I know bosses routinely troll the social media sites, but I always thought getting fired over a stupid status was just urban legend. Apparently not.

Now, of course this brings up a host of issues that I’d love to get a discussion started about in the comment field: Should employees friend their bosses on social media sites?  Do employees have the expectation of privacy on what they do in their private life?

I personally don’t think it matters if you friend your boss. The real problem is posting inappropriate stuff. Even if you’re not friends with your boss, someone could let your boss know about the post. It’s like those criminals who post pictures of themselves stealing a car. Think before you post things. Duh.

Anyway, what’s your take?

That’s right, sports fans, the NFL draft is this Saturday. Football season will be here before you know it! Which means that I should enjoy hanging out with my boyfriend on Sundays while I still can.

But anyway, do you know what your favorite future NFL players are up to when they’re not throwing around the old pig skin, kicking field goals, marrying supermodels…and whatever else football players do?

Well, NFL teams know. And not a normal way, but in a I-know-what-you’re-wearing-this-call-is-coming-from-inside-the-house sort of way. NFL teams have been creating fake Facebook pages. They’re pretending the be gorgeous female fans and requesting to be friends with the draft picks. So, when the guys accept these cuties as friends, NFL teams get access to their walls, their photos, their “If you were a Muppet, which Muppet would you be?” quiz results…everything.

I’d be Animal. Not that it’s any of YOUR business!

Well, maybe you’re thinking that the players shouldn’t accept friend requests from people they don’t know. But I dare you to look at your own friends list and tell me that you know every single person on your list, Mr. I Have 500 Friends On Facebook. Yeah, that’s what I thought.

The NFL teams are making no apologies for this social-network spying.

Now, these players have to potential to make or cost a team millions of dollars. Fine. But what if this sort of behavior leaks into regular offices?

A lot of people in offices are on social networks, whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Maybe your boss requested to be your friend and then had access to all sorts of personal information. And maybe you even got fired over something you posted on your social networking site.

Well, that was your own fault for accepting your boss into your social network.

But, what if your boss–or potential employers–set up a fake profile as a cute girl or guy, and you accepted? And what if your career was affected because of something you posted, which you wouldn’t have posted if you knew who was in your network?

This practice is not illegal, but it does feel dirty. And not in the good way.

What are your thoughts on setting up fake profiles for spying? Not cool? Or a necessary evil to see what really goes on in an employee’s mind? And do you think Matt Stafford will be picked by the Lions?

Jessica Livingston
Managing Editor
jessica.livingston@e-bim.com

Not only do I not use it, but I don’t understand it. I know, weird, right? Especially since I’m a member of Gen Y, a generation that’s supposedly well versed in all things computers and social media.

I understand the general concept of it. But I just don’t understand the point. I already update my status on Facebook. Are people really clamoring for up-to-the-minute details of the minutia of my life? Well, for my adoring fans:

It’s hard getting up in the mornings. I was still tired.

I didn’t feel like tomato soup for lunch today so I had chicken noodle.

Hmm, maybe posting that my boss is a pretentious bore was a bad idea…

My favorite blue pen died. Had to switch to inferior black pen that skips when I write.

Exhilarating stuff, right? But, maybe it’s a good thing I choose not to Tweet. Because apparently Twitter could get you fired.

Yeah, that’s right. I’m sure you’ve heard by now, but some guy who was offered a job at Cisco Tweeted about how he was going to hate his job. And of course the company found out about it. Wait, so something I write on the world wide Web is readable to others? Across the world, no less? What happened to my invisibility shield?

Sorry, dude. If you want your inner-most thoughts to be private, write them down in a diary. (And make sure your little brother doesn’t have the key. I learned that the hard way!) Put private/illegal/embarrassing things on the Internet, and people will read them. And there will be consequences.

I’ve talked before about the hazards of friending your boss on Facebook. But this Twitter thing sounds a lot more dangerous.

Personally, I don’t think I could trust myself–I already have a tendency to over share.

So what do you think about Twitter? Is it fair to fire or not hire someone over his or her obviously-not-thought-through Tweets?

Jessica Livingston
Managing Editor
jessica.livingston@e-bim.com