Abstract:

In recent years we have been witnessing multiple episodes of tension between personal and professional use of social media. E-professionalism competencies refer to the use of online media for interaction and communication including user-generated content in the form of texts, audio, or video, as well as the dissemination or referral of content produced by others. The online expression of professionals can also be extended beyond content, covering all the scope of attitudes and behaviors that become public in digital contexts, including the characteristics of online networks and connections associated with an individual and that become available and interpreted as indicators of an individual’s online identity. Such profiles and behaviors have impacts on the professional context of the individuals as well as for the corporate reputation of the companies and organizations where they are affiliated, and as such have an impact on the attitudes and de quality perceived by its customers.
Despite the acknowledged importance of e-professionalism and its impacts, there is still very scarce offers of structured education and training offers to develop such competencies both in young graduates and on-the-job professionals. Many organizations and professionals are learning by doing, and by example, as any guidelines or references about adequate online social uses in work, as well as about many inherent risks and consequences of mixing personal and professional domains of online use are still lacking.
This article addresses the gap in the knowledge required for managers in the identification of what are the critical areas of tension between personal and professional use of online media, in order to support adequate awareness and training initiatives. The paper builds on a narrative literature review, including the exploration of the sample of documents of social media policy evidence, concerning procedures and codes, elaborated by different organizations. The purpose of the study was to identify and characterize what are the domains of tension between professional and personal use of social media channels, to discuss its implications, and to offer examples of good practices that can frame the development of training strategies in this field.

Keywords:

e-professionalism, social media, online communication.