The perils of on-the-job oversharing -- Career Center Blog

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September 10, 2010

The perils of on-the-job oversharing

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By Michelle Goodman
NWjobs

On NWjobs, we talk a lot about what makes for appropriate use of digital and social media -- and what can happen when workers overshare the intimate details of their personal life online. Today I caught wind of a couple of new and interesting wrinkles in the "What constitutes too much digital information?" discussion.

[Photo by johnsnape]

On The Juggle, Wall Street Journal writer Brian Fitzgerald mused about whether he'd crossed the TMI line by penning an overly detailed out-of-office message on his triplets' first day of school. As Fitzgerald said in his Juggle post, "Because of some good fortune and some colleagues' goodwill, I was able, at the last minute, to rejigger my schedule to work from home that day....I wouldn't just be out of the office, I would be out so I could take my kids to their first day of school and for some celebratory ice cream afterward! It would be a grand day."

Only not all of Fitzgerald's colleagues and readers saw it that way. One co-worker was miffed that she hadn't been able to get the same telecommuting privileges. And several of his readers suggested that out-of-office messages are best kept clippy and professional (e.g., "I'm not here -- contact so-and-so if you need an immediate answer"). Besides, several of Fitzgerald's commenters noted, telecommuting does not warrant an OOO message; any telecommuter worth his or her salt should be easily accessible by some mode of technology throughout the workday.

In his defense, Fitzgerald mentioned in his blog post that he's no fan of bland, "soulless" auto-generated e-mails. I get that; I'm all for infusing one's workplace correspondence with a dash of humor and personality whenever possible, too. But I don't care to hear someone's life story in an autoreply, no matter how excited they are for their kids' first day of school or their three-week vacation -- especially if I wasn't able to nab those same telecommuting or time-off privileges. Best to save those boasts for your Facebook status updates.

Over on CareerDiva, workplace journalist Eve Tahmincioglu points out another place the finer points of your personal life have no business appearing: in the Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace updates made by your kids. Sure enough, Tahmincioglu dug up examples of kids posting the intimate details of their parents' salaries, workplace defeats (e.g., not getting the promotion), and resentments harbored against a miserable boss. Talk about TMI! In the hands of the wrong person (say, a jealous colleague or a vindictive boss), such seemingly innocuous posts have the makings of a personal branding disaster.

I know sometimes it can feel like all the glorious digital media at our fingertips are nothing more than ticking reputation time bombs. But I find examples like these instructive -- a handy reminder if you will that nothing is anonymous online and everyone from your colleagues, vendors, and customers to your friendly neighborhood media professionals really are watching.

Michelle Goodman is the author of "My So-Called Freelance Life" and "The Anti 9-to-5 Guide." E-mail Michelle at mgoodman@nwjobs.com