BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) - "Everyone has a voice,” said Jerry Brown, marketing and social media expert with Uptick Marketing.
Brown said they're using social media to make their voice heard, but it seems more than ever people are using these platforms to talk religion, race and politics.
"You can do whatever you want with that. It's a tool really. You can use it for good or for bad. If you're in real life want to tear people down, you can do it with a bigger audience. If you want to be kind and loving to people you can do it with a bigger voice,” continued Brown.
He said their digital footprint not only represents your personal brand, it also represents your employer.
"We live in a climate where the world is so divided. People take their opinions very seriously and they feel like they have to share those on social media. They think they're going to convert others to their way of thinking through social media posts. Sometimes it gets heated and they say things to people that they wouldn't say directly."
For that reason companies have established social media polices.
“Some things you don't want to talk about it. I think you can share things, but you need to think about how you say it,” he continued.
Those asking if they have any rights to say what they want on social media, according to work fairness.org, you may not have as many rights as you would think in the workplace.
It states, only government employees have free speech protections and even those are limited.
As a private employee, you can be fired for your speech in the workplace or outside of it.
Copyright 2017 WBRC. All rights reserved.
