Assignment 2: Sentara Social Media Policy

Sentara’s own social media policy:

http://www.sentara.com/Policies/Pages/SocialMediaPolicy.aspx

There is a basis of conditions and expectations that are included in almost every social media policy set forth, and Sentara’s policy accomplishes that and further. Sentara’s social media policy is the product of  thoroughly done work for the purpose of transparently stating exactly the behavior they expect online and forcing the unyielding loyalty of their employees to the organization’s opinions, decisions, and actions when using social media. It’s understandable that Sentara wishes to monitor their employee’s actions, especially seeing as how every employee is a liability. You can be your organizations worst or best agent, so you the public views you as reflective of your employer. When analyzing this policy, I found Point 3 quite interesting because while it ties into the federal policy of HIPAA, it goes further to prohibit employees from posting medical advice.

“3. You are prohibited from posting any content that is personal health information including patient images on any Sentara/OptimaHealth Social Media Site. You are also prohibited from using the Sentara/OptimaHealth Social Media Site to provide medical advice or medical commentary by non-Sentara physicians or to use the Sentara/OptimaHealth Social Media Site to make, recommend or increase referrals to physicians who are not employed by Sentara/OptimaHealth.”

Further, Sentara states that any content posted by their employees can be altered or deleted at their discretion, as if it were their own. Sentara makes it clear that their employees are responsible for any action done under their account regardless of circumstances such as a third party intrusion. In short, this social media policy is an attempt to establish virtual codes of conduct and to release Sentara from the liability of employees causing embarrassment or controversy linked to the organization on the public internet. Obviously, the internet is a grand tool; therefore, it is important that organizations take such precautions as these to protect not only their employees but also themselves.

My Love / Hate Relationship with Technology

Our world today is vastly based on technology. To me, it seems as if the greatest nations on Earth are often recognized as those with the greatest technology. In our modern age technology plays a limitless variety of roles in life everyday, and it certainly continues to evolve and grow mightier with each passing day.

Heightened life expectancies, greater quality of life, more promising medical prognoses, clearer images whether on our televisions or cameras, cleaner music, and even the means of cleaning ourselves in our advanced society are just a few of the grand amount of luxuries we have thanks to our technology.

I’ve grown up in a society that revolves around technology. We’ve been blessed, or potentially cursed, with a plethora of technologies that our recent past generations thought possible only in the wildest of dreams. Certainly technology doesn’t have to be as many classify it today, often being those objects powered by gasoline, oil, or electricity. The first stone wheel, the roman aqueducts, and the engineering behind ancient architectures doubtlessly have an equal claim to the label of technology as well. Using that more broad mentality, it’s almost impossible to envision living a day without utilizing some form of technology.

Technology has sunken its teeth into my life. I live everyday strengthened and assisted by the technology i use. My live is made exponentially easier by it in many ways, but often technology takes its own back in other forms. Technology makes me dependent on it, as I’ve become accustomed to its luxuries. I have no right to complain for the gifts I’ve been given, but at the same time i refuse to completely ignore what I’ve paid in exchange

Now here’s a picture of me, courtesy of my laptop camera. Fancy.