Factory without Walls? Work and Non-work in the Facebook-Policies of Finnish Companies

Company guidelines often regulate communication on Facebook, at least during work hours. Guidelines for social media use are maintained because Facebook can be used for both professional and private purposes, and the boundary between work and non-work remains unclear. Building on the claim of the social factory, we theorize on the dynamics and impacts of company social media regulation extending to non-work. We explore empirically how personal and work-related uses are described and kept separate in the Facebook policies of 30 Finnish companies. Our analysis is based on qualitative methods using open and axial coding. Two different groups of company guidelines emerged in the analyses: one group of invasive guidelines reinforced by harsh sanctions and another, smaller group, which had less invasive guidelines and laxer sanctions.