Telstra Lays Down Law On Social Media

Kerrieanne writes to tell us that Australian telecommunications giant Telstra has become the first major player down under to lay down the law with respect to social media. Still recovering from the shakeup surrounding a Telstra worker using the name of the communications minister on Twitter, they have released a six-page set of guidelines on the use of Facebook, Twitter, and other similar websites for both company and personal use. "Under the guidelines, which are backed up with the threat of disciplinary action, employees using sites on official Telstra business should disclose who they are, ensure they do not give away confidential information and treat other users with respect. They are required to complete an accreditation process and undergo training to update their 'knowledge on emerging social trends and evolving best practice in social media.'"

Comments

Re:Some socially correct bitch

[Tubal-Cain]

Australia is predominantly female.

Obviously

Re:But Telstra thinks school rules apply at home

[shentino]

I think that not being allowed to speak freely about your company on your own time is a sign of a power imbalance.

Any company that has to censor its employees when they're at home is either dysfunctionally paranoid or has something to hide.

Just think of how many people have to use AC just to post on /.

Companies that censor their employees naturally have nothing but good PR...until they get caught hiding something.

A company that can have a healthy respect for self criticism is likely to be better off anyway.

Of course, with desperate workers not having much room to negotiate, companies are happy to consolidate their power and use their leverage to keep their workers sheared like sheep.