Manage your social media accounts at work responsibly. If you're an employee, there's no excuse for being surrounded by pictures of You-Know-Who saluting The Thin White Line every time you log onto Facebook.

Be aware of what others are posting about your company and make sure to keep things professional and appropriate. Don't comment or like anything that could be construed as negative unless it is off topic or illegal content.

Don’t assume someone else will take care of this for you - they probably won’t! Get into the habit of looking through their profiles yourself first, then responding if needed.

And once you have responded, stick to the facts and don’t get drawn into an argument. Keep it civil and hope everyone does too.

There can also be legal obligations to look out for when sharing information online. Make sure you aren’t breaking any laws and stay within your job role boundaries.

Be aware of what you post and who sees it

It is your job as an employee to ensure that your social media posts are appropriate and do not violate any laws or regulations. If you find yourself struggling with this, talk to someone else at your workplace about how to manage your online presence.

There’s no reason to worry though! Creating content for your personal account is one thing, but managing all of your employer accounts can be tricky.

It's important to remember that even if you're only posting content as a private individual, your employers may see these messages. You should always think before you post, and check to make sure that what you're writing won't hurt your career or expose information that could get people fired.

Control your digital presence

As mentioned before, you as an employee can control how your personal life impacts the workplace. It is also important to remember that your online activity can have consequences beyond just your job.

Your social media activity can reflect on your professionalism and therefore influence the perception of others about your employer. Yours could even have an effect on someone’s decision to do business with your organization!

If there are any questionable comments or behaviors, you may face disciplinary action including termination of employment. While it is never easy to lose your job, making careless statements outside of work will only hurt your chances of finding new employment.

It is always better to be careful what you say both at work and out-of-work.

Set personal and professional boundaries

As mentioned before, staying productive on social media can be tricky at times. If you feel like your time is being wasted on business-related posts, create more focused lists to manage what types of content you want to see.

Alternatively, you could just say "goodbye" to this app all together!

By defining limitations for yourself, you will stay happier and better able to focus on work. And if you ever need some help limiting Time to enjoy apps, use our tools here to give you tips.

And remember, it’s not okay to let negative emotions keep you from doing your job. So when you find yourself getting annoyed or frustrated with the way someone is spending their time, take a break and do something you've been wanting to do for awhile. Or simply ask about their day so you don't get too stressed out.

Take time for self-care

It’s easy to get distracted at work, which can be a bad thing if you want to keep your job. If colleagues or superiors notice that you are not present most of the day, they may think that something is wrong and that you don’t care about your job.

If this sounds like a problem for you, try giving yourself some extra time during the workday to focus only on your tasks. This will help you feel more focused and relaxed when you return home.

It also helps to recognize what things may contribute to stress. For example, making sure your personal life is working well, avoiding too much debt, limiting alcohol and caffeine intake, and being aware of how you respond to situations can all make a difference.

While it might sound crazy at first, I hope this article has inspired you to do something about this small but important part of your career health.

Speak with your manager

It is very important to always check with your boss before posting anything about your job search online. If you are not sure who that person is, ask someone else in your department or another member of the team!

If your manager watches their own social media accounts, they may notice comments about looking for work or other signs of job searching. They might even see something posted about how you found this position and what benefits you received from working here.

By being aware of these things, your employer can use them to help determine if there is an issue between you two that makes you look like you aren’t invested in the workplace.

It would be best to address these issues at least one week ahead of when people could actually witness it, so don’t do it immediately after the rant day.

Consider creating a social media policy

As we've discussed, having clear policies and procedures is a start towards managing your social accounts effectively. But what about when things go wrong? What if someone posts something offensive or you feel that an account needs to be deleted because it violates terms of use?

It's great to have rules, but how do you handle situations like these? An organization social media policy can help. Having specific guidelines for all departments and individuals means that everyone will know what to expect when they log onto their account, making issues less likely to occur.

Furthermore, people who work under you may not fully understand why certain actions are restricted or prohibited, so having formalized practices removes most questions!

When designing your policy, think about what types of behaviors need to be addressed. Some examples include: posting personal information, taking pictures with equipment belonging to the company, sharing internal documents and files, using derogatory language, etc.

Your staff and customers could potentially find the content objectionable or illegal, so ensure everything is legitimate first by confirming it isn’t.

Create a plan for when you need to exit the platform

It is very important to create a plan for when you will no longer use a particular social media site.

This way, your followers get an opportunity to be re-connected with after you leave the company or the website.

It also gives their new profile member some time to find someone else to follow before they too can’t login anymore.

Removing yourself as a user goes a long way to protecting your personal brand online. You don’t want people talking about you negatively even if it is only through a third party channel like Twitter.

Think about creating a presence on the platform

While most people focus only on having a Facebook profile, that is not the right level of engagement. If you are employed at your current position, it is important to consider what social media profiles you have and how they can help your career or hurt yours.

It’s easy to create an account for yourself on a site like Snapchat or YouTube, but staying engaged beyond that will require more than just having a profile. It will take time to develop authentic relationships with others online, so don’t expect quick results.

But before you start changing jobs or improving your employment prospects, make sure everything is professional and appropriate.