Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin… What effect are they having on your business?
Following the global success of these sites it would be useful to learn something of the approach companies are adopting today. Are these websites harmful, or helpful?
With businesses in France and Germany using these sites to screen potential employees and employees misusing these sites to pass comment on where they work and who they work with, how do companies come to an accommodation with the phenomenon of social media?
As it stands it is not illegal to use such sites for these purposes, however their prohibition would no doubt cause bad feeling and most likely lead to a case in discrimination. So should it be banned from the workplace?
A recent survey conducted by ACAS found that 55% of workers are using social media sites in the workplace costing companies billions of pounds a year in lost productivity. In response to this more and more companies are stating their policies and procedures vis-à-vis social media sites in their contracts and handbooks.
This then allows the company to start a disciplinary procedure should they find an employee using the site in a way that may be harmful to the company.
Research Company Clearswift held an online survey in which 1,529 employees and 906 managers in the UK, Australia, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands took part. According to their research there has been a 20% increase in businesses blocking these sites.
Andrew Wyatt, chief operating officer of Clearswift, told SC magazine that the increase was due to a "knee-jerk reaction" to media reports about data loss.
He said: “Blocking the internet does not stop [employees] using it at home. [There has not been enough] education to get a hold on what is sensible and what is not with social media, and we are learning by mistakes.”
However some people are of the opinion that you should not block these sites. Ben Betts, CEO of HT2, believes “you will increasingly waste resources trying to stop it.”
He adds “You can block Facebook on workstations, but you can’t block it on people’s phones. You can block the phones from your WiFi, but you can’t block the phone signal. If people want to access Facebook, they will. Would you rather they do it at their desk, where they can be seen, or in the bathroom, locked away for 20 minutes?”
“Access to Facebook on mobile devices is getting easier and easier. In many parts of the world Facebook Zero has been rolled out to mobile networks, offering access to the site free of charge, without the need for a data plan. This is a significant driver of business for mobile network operators and puts Facebook in everyone’s hands, wherever they are.”
As social media sites become bigger and more available should companies fight it or embrace it as a useful tool to promote their company as a modern and open minded place to work?
Authors bio is coming up shortly. 
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