MONTREAL - Don't be a twanker on Twitter.
That's Twitter-speak for a person, organization or company using bad behaviour on the microblogging service.
On Twitter, one U.S. job seeker tweeted about weighing a fat paycheque against hating the work and the daily commute. The result was bad twarma, or karma. The tweet got back to his potential employer and the result was no job.
As more employees use Twitter and blend their personal and professional lives in 140-character messages or "tweets," common sense should rule.
"I would never vent," says Twitter user Melanie Playne.
"I would never say anything negative about a client or a competitor," said Playne, who's a business development manager in Midland, Ont.
Playne uses it as a business tool where she works at LabX, but often tries to "put out a personal spin" on her tweets when she's trying to connect buyers and sellers of laboratory equipment.
But she doesn't get overly personal and saves that kind of detail for her Facebook page that she shares only with family and friends.
Social media expert David Meerman Scott said if an employee is badmouthing his employer on Twitter, it's a behaviour problem.
"I would absolutely fire someone for doing something like that, but that's not a Twitter problem," said Scott, who's based in Boston.
There can also be situations in which employees overstep bounds on the phone, via email or in public, he added.
Employers are starting to take a look at the use of social media in the workplace.
The British government has told its civil servants they can tweet away on Twitter, but their messages should be "human and credible."
The Twitter guidelines noted the British government must "accept that there will be some criticism" of its efforts.
Consumer electronics store Best Buy is encouraging hundreds of employees to handle online customer service and company promotions via Twitter.
Twitter itself has put out a set of guidelines for businesses, telling them how to put out tweets that have value by offering exclusive deals or taking people behind the scenes of their company.
Prof. Tim Richardson said employees can mix the personal and professional on Twitter, but need to exercise some restraint to prevent their comments from coming back to haunt them.
Employees can promote charitable events they're involved in, for example, but shouldn't be passing on gossip, said Richardson, an e-commerce professor at the University of Toronto.
"It's a doubled-edged sword," Richardson said of its use.
Companies want their employees to be creative and spontaneous and that same type of freedom should extend to Twitter and other social networking sites, he said.
"If you're really Machiavellian and controlling, then it just won't work. You can't have your cake and eat it too," Richardson said.
Scott said banning social networking sites in the workplace tells employees they're not trusted to use them without wasting time.
"I don't see companies looking at other things that can theoretically waste time," he said, citing coffee and cigarette breaks, water cooler trips and personal time for errands and appointments.
Media analyst Ian Capstick said despite the brevity of the messages, people's real personalities will come out on Twitter.
"If you're prone to having short fits of rage in real life with your colleagues, then maybe Twitter is not for you," said Capstick, owner of Ottawa-based MediaStyle.
"This is by far the most honest mediun in which there is interaction aside from face-to-face interaction," he said.
The online Twictionary: The Dictionary for Twitter, has some sage words that apply to the users of the microblogging service.
Twerp: Anyone who doesn't play nice on Twitter.
