Digital Citizenship Digital citizenship is the standard of appropriate behavior when using technology to communicate. Good digital citizenship focuses on using technology in a pos- itive manner rather than using it for negative or illegal purposes. People who participate in the digital soci- ety have a legal responsibility for their online actions, whether those actions are ethical or unethical. Company Equipment Company equipment is designated for business-related functions, not for personal use. Office equipment includes desktop computers, phones, and photocopy machines. This equipment is provided to employees to improve efficiency. In many cases, it would be impossi- ble for an employee to perform his or her job without it. Many businesses have codes of conduct that outline employee guidelines for visiting websites and rules for downloading to company computers. These rules protect the business’ computer system and its private information. Company-owned mobile devices, such as smart- phones or tablets, are also company property and should not be used for personal reasons. Company policies for appropriate communication and workplace behavior should be followed at all times. BYOD Some organizations have a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy that allows employees to use their own devices to perform business-related functions. In a BYOD scenario, an employee owns the devices used to conduct work. However, company-specified usage guidelines for use must be followed at all times while using the personal device for business purposes. Software Downloads It is unethical and illegal for an employee to use com- pany equipment to download software that has not been purchased and registered by the employer. A license is the legal permission to use a software program and must be on file with the employer. Social Media Slipup An aspiring musician was looking for summer work in an effort to help offset some of the costs of his tuition for college. He was accepted to an expensive university that focused primarily on the performing arts. He was willing to take any job that came his way. Working during his time off would help him pay tuition, even if he did not particularly enjoy the work. After countless job applications, and to help relieve some of the negativity brought on by his lack of employment, he wrote a song about why he felt he was being overlooked for jobs. Being a performing-arts student looking to build his portfolio, he recorded a video of himself singing it to post to his YouTube account. In the video, he strummed his guitar and sang recently penned lyrics about the types of people who get hired instead of him. He described them using satirical language and criticized them. In his song, he suggested that most companies are only willing to hire people who “look the part” and not necessarily the “most deserving.” The video became somewhat of a hit on YouTube. It was viewed by thousands of people, most of whom had positive comments regarding the structure and composition of the song. Hundreds of people began sharing it across multiple social networking sites. Eventually the video made its way to a university social networking page where it was seen by one of the student’s professors. This professor had previously agreed to serve as a reference for the young musician, but changed his mind after seeing the video. The professor sent an e-mail to his student explaining that he saw the video and found it embarrassing. He then asked the student to remove him from his list of references out of concern to his own professional reputation. Networking is an important part of the job search. It is about establishing references that can lead to potential career or job opportunities. Damaging a relationship of an important reference can create additional obstacles in a job search that job seekers may struggle to overcome. Christian Kieff er/Shutterstock.com Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. 27 Chapter 2 Soft Skills