I thought I’d seen it all on a job application, but “dooced” is a new one for me! I looked it up online, and the definition of dooced? To lose one’s job because of what you wrote on your weblog, or because of one’s actions on the Internet.

Social networking is the big thing right now, and you should expect it to remain that way for quite some time. So big, in fact, that companies are finding themselves encountering all sorts of social networking related issues, both good and bad.

Personally, I have found the social networking website LinkedIn to be a great way to connect with other professionals in the business community and to join groups of professionals who are interested in subjects that also interest me. Many companies are encouraging their employees to join social networking sites for business purposes. And they are learning that while these sites bring advantages to their business, they also bring some problematic issues into the workplace.

There are many social networking sites and tools out there. They include LinkedIn (which is specifically for professionals), FaceBook, MySpace and Twitter. Many companies and organizations are creating business pages on these sites in order to increase their own presence on the Internet, find employees, and stay connected with their clients and customers.

Social networking is here to stay, so businesses must be proactive in creating policies regarding employees’ use of these tools. As with all policies, it’s better and much easier to create the policy before there’s a problem. Create a clear, concise policy and have each employee read it and sign it. The policy needs to cover appropriate business behavior.

Of course, you can’t make an effective policy if you’re not familiar with the subject at hand! For many managers like me, before we can create policies, we must first become informed about social networking sites. Our younger workforce comes to us fully informed and knowledgeable on this subject. In fact, if you want someone to help your company up its game and its presence on the Internet, assign this task to one of your Gen X or Gen Y employees. They’ll love the job, and be happy to train you on the use of social networking.

Today we terminated a young woman for spending a large portion of her day on FaceBook and Twitter. She used a devious little application called Spreadtweet to disguise her Twitter account as an Excel file. She didn’t realize that her supervisor was able to monitor her computer activity from his own computer, and that the fake spreadsheet ploy didn’t fool him one bit.

Just the existence of a Twitter-disguising application like Spreadtweet powerfully demonstrates why social network use must be carefully and thoroughly regulated in a business environment. Many companies have discovered that social networking sites can become a huge distraction to employees as they spend a large amount of time checking their friends’ pages, update their own, view pictures, make weekend plans, chat with friends, etc. And the number of people who use social networking sites is only going to grow (and grow fast), making it all the more likely that you will encounter social networking related issues in your workplace, if you haven’t already.

In February, The New York Times reported that, “Time spent on social networks has surpassed that for email for the first time… signaling a paradigm shift in consumer engagement with the Internet.” Twitter’s growth is absolutely explosive; a survey performed in early march by Nielson online estimates that Twitter experienced a growth rate of 1,382 percent from February 2008 through February 2009! Wow!

Social networking doesn’t have to be a productivity-killer in your workplace. Some companies use all of the sites I’ve mentioned for a variety of things. For instance, many human resource professionals are now reviewing potential job applicants on social networking sites as part of the review process. Marketing and sales professionals are marketing their products and connecting with potential clients through these sites.

Some businesses, like Comcast, even have customer service representatives solely dedicated to monitoring social networking sites for mentions of their company’s name, so that they can proactively address issues and complaints. It’s a great way to really impress people with the quality of your customer service, take advantage of social networking’s word-of-mouth power, and minimize any negative information about you.

Obviously, in companies utilizing social networking for these sorts of purposes, blocking access to social networking websites to prevent employees from goofing off just isn’t feasible.

One solution is to create access to sites by job title or function. Alternatively, some companies allow access to sites on a computer in the break room, giving employees the ability to connect with friends at lunch or on their breaks. Every company’s needs are different. Decide if you want to block access to some or all social networking sites on your company’s computer network. You may decide that your employees can use LinkedIn, but that you don’t want them accessing their FaceBook or MySpace pages while they’re at work.

Many companies have policies that state the types of information that can be posted on the internet regarding the company, whether it’s posted on or off company time. For instance, an employee may not post any company information, such as financial data, reports, correspondence, etc. Employees should never post anything that offends or degrades clients. Also, nothing that is illegal should ever be posted; in other words, they should never violate any laws, such as copyrights or employment laws. The company’s trade secrets or proprietary information also need to be protected from disclosure. In your policies, be sure you cover all mediums, including podcasts and videos. Remember the damage done to Domino’s reputation when their employees made a video of themselves doing disgusting things to the food they were preparing for their customers.

And what about employees’ use of social networking sites on their off-hours? Some companies do include this in their policies. You might require their personal blogs to have a clear disclaimer that their views are theirs and theirs alone and do not represent the views of the company. It also should require that employees not defame or disparage the company.

How will you know what your employees are saying about you on their FaceBook or MySpace pages? Some company policies require employees to provide company access to their personal blogs, a policy that many employees find objectionable. In our real lives, management and employees do not often socialize outside of work, as we try to maintain appropriate boundaries. Is it appropriate that we ask to be “friends” on FaceBook in order to monitor what is being said by our staff? One difference is that information on the Internet gains a life of its own.

However, remember that employees do have the right to discuss wages, benefits and working conditions, which is a protected concerted activity under the law. If a blog or other electronic communication discusses one of those elements, an employer could be liable for retaliation if the employee is disciplined for their exercising their rights.

Don’t forget about Twitter, either. Tweets, which are short messages of 140 characters or less, can seem very innocuous when sent. But their purpose can be personal or provocative, and the outcome can be harmful to a company. A recent FedEx executive sent a tweet about a city he was visiting saying, “I would die if I had to live here.” You can imagine how his clients there felt as they read his tweet, and the possible harm it did to his company!

As our workforce demographics shift, folks in my age range will retire and younger workers like my daughters — who have grown up on the Internet, “talking” to multiple people at once while they simultaneously do their homework and watch TV — will take my place. Will their productivity be diminished if they are allowed to use a social networking site? Or will their morale deteriorate if they are not? My guess is that it will be their generation who will help us understand how best to incorporate these tools into the workplace, while resolving the productivity challenges they bring.