Related Posts
If money was not a criteria, what job would you do?
Chief
What is the salary for a ‘H4’ band?
Additional Posts in News & Media
What is your favorite VICE documentary?
What inspired you to join this industry?
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
As a freelancer, I wrote for an outlet that suddenly made it a "requirement" to post the pieces I wrote on my Twitter accounts.
I have over 10K followers in a rather specific niche, and I would definitely have driven traffic to their site.
The others who wrote similar stuff had basically zero followings (not in that area, not in any area).
I said, fine. But if you want me to direct traffic to you, you need to pay me more than you pay them (they should have been anyway; the quality was apples and oranges).
They wouldn't do it.
So I said I wouldn't share them on my platforms.
And said, Thanks, and see ya.
At some point, there's a line. They crossed it.
Considering what they were paying in the first place.
I've been doing this anyway to promote my magazine's content. Nobody likes to be told what to do, especially if it coincides with having your job threatened. But, honestly, why not be proud of your work and promote it?
We were required to get like 2,000+ followers on LinkedIn to create an audience for the articles we posted, until one of my female colleagues protested that as a female courting male followers can be awkward at the least and dangerous at the worst. It seemed weird to me that my personal LinkedIn became a place to push my work’s content.
I’m sorry this is happening to you and your colleagues. In this situation, I would revisit my job description and employee handbook to make sure this isn’t a condition of employment. Often “duties as assigned“ is where scope creep happens on many jobs. As a group (you have strength in numbers) you might be able to push back if you make an argument regarding privacy rights; check state law.
No, of course it's not legal. It's also a fairly bizarre thing to ask given that a reporter's LinkedIn is probably not going to drive any traffic. Some journalists, of course, have their own followings on social sites, so those may move the needle. But it's hard to imagine LinkedIn doing much. In any event, publications generally have a social team that handles posting of content.
LinkedIn is such a odd place that no one knows what to do with. I had an argument with an outlet I worked for as they wanted me to share my work on my personal Instagram and Facebook. I ended up locking them and making it private.
I had to do this early on in my career as well but on Facebook, like you I disliked mixing business and personal content so I just created a separate Facebook and Instagram account for the “required” work posts.
That sounds like such a tricky spot. Mixing personal and professional online presence should be a choice, not a requirement. I’d be asking HR or even checking local employment law. Would you consider setting boundaries, like a “professional only” LinkedIn strategy?