5 Dumb Things Remote Workers Post on Social Media

Those who work at home sometimes face a bad rap from family and friends who are stuck in the industrial age mentality that only those in an office, at the plant, or on the job site are productive and truly working.

Once, a family friend asked me, “Since you work from home, does that you mean you go to movies during the day?” Yeah…that’s it.

Most of us who have the flexibility to work at home are truly grateful that advances in technology and changes in workplace culture allow many of us to work from anywhere: whether it’s from home, a coffee shop, a hotel room, dedicated co-working space and yes, occasionally on the beach, at the cabin, or next to the pool.

It’s something remote work advocates have worked long and hard for. So fellow remote workers, don’t ruin it by posting dumb things on social media.

Five dumb things remote workers post on social media:

1. Post a picture of yourself working at home—with a picture of your kid on your lap or next to you.

We’ve all seen it. That employee who gets to work from home one or two days a week. They are pretty excited to be “working” from home. But they forget—they should be working.

They are so excited they decide it would be a good idea to post a picture of their toddler sitting next to them or “playing” next to them while they work.

Think about this: How productive can anyone really be with a toddler next to them? Sure, you can answer a few emails, but if you do this, and are connected to other co-workers who do work in the office, you are setting yourself—and other remote workers—up for ridicule. Not to mention, you’re setting yourself up for revocation of your remote work privileges.

No, you can’t be productive with your child sitting on your lap or playing next to you while working. So don’t post a picture doing just that on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat—wherever. And don’t text a pic of that scene to your friends in the office either—unless you want a virtual eye roll from them.

2. Write a “my view is the best” social media post.

We get it—you really like working from home. But don’t post that picture of your feet up on a chair, with your laptop and cup of coffee in front of you overlooking the lake, beach, ocean, pool, or some other tropical or scenic view.

You are only going to alienate your other friends and/or co-workers who dread going to the office and are stuck staring at a cubicle over and over. In this case, keep your “views” to yourself!

3. Brag about not having a commute—especially during bad weather days.

In Minnesota, we get a lot of snow days. Messy commutes are the norm during those abysmal winter months. So fellow remote workers, don’t post something like, “Days like today are why I am so thankful I get to work from home. No messy commute here.”

What do you expect your friends or colleagues, who had to drive into the office and had to endure a treacherous commute, to say to that? You are truly only going to create animosity. In other cases, people will post a picture of the outdoors on that first nice day of spring. Be proud but be humble.

4. Social media post about your “liquid lunch.”

If you work at home and don’t have to meet or spend face time with clients or co-workers, you may think it’s fun to head to lunch, get a beer or cocktail, take a picture of it, post it to social media, and brag about being able to have a drink at lunch because you work at home.

Think twice—you never know if your boss or that client you have a 2:00 p.m. conference call with will eventually see it, now or in the future. Nothing is hidden once it’s posted to social media.

5. Constantly reference working from home in everything you post.

If you work from home, you don’t always have to mention it in your social media posts. Those who work in an office don’t say, “Today at work, where I work in an office, I went to a great lunch with two former co-workers. It was so nice to catch up with them.” No one would say that. So don’t say, “I had a great lunch with my sister today. Since I work from home, it made it easy to get out and see her.”

News flash: Those who work in an office go to lunch with family friends. Those who work in an office do many of the same things you do all day. And some people, frankly, don’t care you work from home. It may not be for them.

But you do work from home. So be grateful, not a braggadocio. Instead of posting things about working from home that annoy your social network friends, or worse, get you in trouble at work, wait to be asked about your experience with remote work to talk about it. That way, you can be sure the people hearing your, “I work from home!” message are the ones who want to know about it.