The mis-use of social media is causing unrest in Australian workplaces, with a new study revealing that 62 percent of Australian adults believe it has affected their privacy at work.
In relation to Cyber bullying, the study by AVG Technologies found that 8 percent of Australians surveyed had discovered secret conversations about them online which has been initiated by work colleagues…while 10 percent had embarrassing photos from work make their way onto social media sites.
To prevent this type of activity many adults are now turning away from social media, but rather than switch it off, you may simply need to review your privacy settings and regain control of exactly who has acess to anything you happen to post online.
Other key findings from the study include:
· Forms of cyber-bullying: Nine out of ten (91 per cent) of Australian adults surveyed believe that sending unpleasant or defamatory remarks to or about a colleague using digital communications constitutes cyber-bullying.
· Incriminating or embarrassing activity online: Eight per cent has had a manager use information which has been found on a social media site against them or a colleague.
· Cyber-bullying driving workplace confrontations: Cyber-bullying can easily spill over into heated debates in the workplace with more than half (51 per cent) of surveyed Aussie adults admitting they would confront colleagues in person if they felt they were the victim of cyber-bullying.
· Cyber-bullying policies: 57 per cent of Australian adults in the survey know of a comprehensive policy in their workplace which covers cyber-bullying. Australia is highest in the survey followed by the UK (51 per cent) and lowest in France (20 per cent) and Germany (23 per cent). A quarter of all respondents in the survey (25 per cent) said they were not protected from cyber-bullying as their workplaces do not cover this within existing policies, compared to only 13 per cent in Australia (with 30 per cent saying they didn’t know)*.
· Social media responsibility: Just over half of Australian adults surveyed (53 per cent) believe their company is responsible for the online behaviour of employees during work hours if they are using their personal social media accounts.
The following video is from http://www.avgdigitaldiaries.com/
