mobile-phone

The Pitfalls of Sexting

on December 10, 2010

Anyone that has been issued a company Blackberry might be tempted to use Blackberry messenger or the PIN/SMS features to text with friends, family and other personal contacts.

Texting is convenient because it can be done at anytime, especially during those long drawn out meetings.  Unlike making a phone call, it is a more discreet form of real time communication and it’s also become the fastest way to get a hold of anyone that uses texting.

But one of the more appealing things about using Blackberry Messenger is the perception that unlike email, it’s not monitored. And of course this can all lead to a level of comfort that our communications are confidential and private.  Texting is so convenient that more and more it is being used for work as well, often to arrange meetings or confirm information with colleagues. Millennials are particularly likely to prefer texting their boss in order to confirm a meeting time or meeting place.

In the texting world it’s easy to be somewhat more liberal and even flirtatious with language, so why not engage in sexually explicit conversations, otherwise known as “sexting” (sex –texting)?  And if we have a receptive person, we might even be tempted to snap a lewd picture of ourselves and send it over just for fun.

But be forewarned, texting on company equipment is seriously risky. For starters, your IT department has the ability, through the company IT policy,  to monitor and capture every text that you send or receive through Messenger, PIN and SMS including capturing pictures.  They can also disable PIN/SMS and Messenger so that you can’t use it on your device and some companies do this.

Although texts through your Blackberry are encrypted, it is possible, although unlikely to hack into the texting system.

But the greatest risk in sending inappropriate texts on work equipment lies with the receiver of the text.  You should be very careful who you trust with personal texts and certainly you should never trust anyone associated with your work. As your career progresses you will never really know who has issues with you, but you can assume that people will talk about you and share information that, at best, may be detrimental to your image or worse could damage your future. It’s not worth the risk.

Copyright  © 2011 The BlackJag Executive All Rights Reserved



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