- Image by takomabibelot via Flickr
My friend Peter Kim wrote an awesome post about the impending collision between our work and personal lives. He asked the question: Should you be paid to participate in social media?
I find this question to be particularly intriguing because we’re asking it ourselves at work. If big businesses want to encourage their employees to utilize social media on their behalf, then what is the pay out for those employees?
Should there be one?
When Two Ideas Collide
I think that the question Peter raises has another element to it, and that is the monitoring aspect that will be inherent in any kind of reward system. Before I can incentivize and effectively reward associates for resolving a customer problem via social media or closing a deal via social media, I have to be able to monitor those assocate’s interactions on-line.
Is this going to be ok with people?
I ask that question because if we’re concerned about our privacy when it comes to putting RFID tags in our clothes, then how concerned about our privacy will we be when our employer asks to monitor our on-line activities during our on and off hours?
Wait a minute, off hours?
Yes. If the idea is that I, as an employee, can have a positive impact on the business at any time of the day, via my social identities, then my accounts need to be monitored at all times throughout the day. Even when I’m not at work.
I’m really not sure how this is going to go over.
What Do You Think?
Seriously curious here. I personally think that the right mix of incentives could alleviate a lot of the privacy concerns. But I’m very curious to get your take on it.
