Social Media: Extending the Workplace Water Cooler

At work yesterday several of us were commenting on our weekends. I asked one coworker how the movie was? Another coworker looked at me and said "Did you two run into each other over the weekend?" The answer of course was no. We had been Facebooking.

In the workplace today, well at least at mine, there are many of us using Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, LinkIn or a combination of them. Those not grabbing hold of social media seem to be left out of the conversation.

The other side of this are those people you work with who can now follow your every move on the social media forum of your choice. Do you really want them to see everything?

How do you keep people who aren't partaking in social media conversations in the loop and how do you keep those in the loop from knowing too much? Facebook and other such sites offer employees a continuation of the water cooler, but to what degree is this too much togetherness? Should we be this connected to people from work and for those who aren't catching the wave, what's the best way to handle it?

I myself subscribe to the theory that you don't put anything out into the world that you wouldn't want others to see, but I'm sure many aren't so careful.  When it comes to those who aren't in the loop I do my best to include them, but ultimately its their choice to participate or not to. 

Social media isn't just changing the way business is done its changing the way we are interacting in business settings.  The water cooler conversation is no longer just taking place in the office. Now we have the virtual water cooler which is everywhere and available anytime.

How will this impact the workplace long term?  Will it change things for the better or will it cause problems down the road?  I suppose it depends on where you work and the dynamics of your work environment.  If the water cooler at work tends to be a clique where gossip and negativity are spread that will likely carry over into the world of social media, however the opposite is also true.   

What this means is that businesses need to be more vigilant about managing a healthy work environment.  Before a bad day ended at 5pm and people had time to step back and reflect. Now with 24-hour contact through social media this isn't always the case.  Negativity can spread that much faster in the age of social media.  Fostering a healthy workplace has always been important, but today businesses must be more aware of the little things that can mushroom beyond the office setting. Heightened awareness of discord in the office is the new must for businesses.