Managing Employee Social Networking: Evolving Views from the National Labor Relations Board Margaret A. Lucero & Robert E. Allen & Brian Elzweig # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013 Abstract With the development of social networking internet sites such as Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter, a new set of concerns has arisen for employers. A growing number of employers has asserted a right to regulate employee use of the internet and social networking sites despite the fact that such policies may be seen as an intrusion on workers’ privacy interests. This paper explores the conflict between the employees’ interest in internet use and employer efforts to regulate and control these activities. A number of National Labor Relations Board cases and supporting reports, as well as, arbitration decisions are examined in order to explore the critical issues that have emerged regarding employee use of social networking. Based on an analysis of the cases and literature, guidelines are provided for effective employer social networking policies. A high quality policy and an understanding of the changing standards are critical for successful management of employee social networking. Keywords Social networking . Employer policies . Employee internet use . National Labor Relations Board . National Labor Relations Act . Arbitration It is common for employees to believe that their off-duty and personal activities are not subject to employer regulation. Such intrusions are commonly considered to be unnecessary and inappropriate invasions on individual privacy. To a substantial degree, employers agree with this assertion except in relatively rare cases. In years past, the employer concerns with off-duty employee activities focused on conduct that was illegal in nature such as theft, drug use, or drug sales (Miller et al. 1993). In more recent years, employers have also expressed interest in regulating legal off-duty employee activities such as smoking, personal relation- ships (e.g., sexual orientation, cohabitation), lifestyle activities (e.g., obesity, alcohol Employ Respons Rights J DOI 10.1007/s10672-012-9211-9 M. A. Lucero (*) : B. Elzweig College of Business, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, 6300 Ocean Drive, Unit 5808, Corpus Christi, TX 78412-5808, USA e-mail: margaret.lucero@tamucc.edu R. E. Allen University of Wyoming, 7522 Beau Terre, Corpus Christi, TX 78414, USA