As popularity among social media sites continues
to skyrocket, some employers have taken steps to block these sites from the workplace
in an attempt to increase output. Businesses hope that blocking social media
sites will force their employees to focus on their work. The Mashable article "20% of Americans Can’t Access Facebook at Work," examines a work-related study where a little over 1,000 employees were surveyed. Mashable's data shows that "1 in 5 Americans" claim they are not able to log onto Facebook while at work. In addition, 15.1% of employees report Twitter has been blocked from their workplace. Along with these two wildly
popular social media sites, 13.7% of employees reportedly don’t have access to the
popular site YouTube.
Upon hearing statistics such as this, we
must take a step back and ask ourselves if this is truly worth it. Are these
businesses fighting a battle they cannot win? In this technological day and
age, the accessibility of social media sites is getting easier and easier. People
are no longer tied down by laptops and PCs when looking to access social media.
Cell phones and tablets have made social sites available from almost anywhere.
In light of this, if an employer blocks social media sites from the workplace
computers, employees can bypass this by accessing the sites from their mobile
devices.
Fortunately, as opposed to my high
school, I have found more freedom in my workplace. Old Colony Realtors is a
social media-friendly environment. Many realtors choose to promote business and
communicate with clients through social media avenues. As a realtor, there are
many opportunities to use platforms such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and other
social sites to grow and expand business.
In addition to my workplace, I have
found my college to be more open-minded as well. WVU promotes the use of social
media by allowing students to engage in WVU Facebook groups for graduating
classes and specific programs. Also, students can follow the school and its various
endeavors through Twitter. For instance, I follow WVU Womens’ Soccer on
Facebook. It provides me with updates and allows me to stay connected with the
team.
In my opinion, employers must learn to
embrace social media. It has become part of our culture and can prove to be a valuable
resource when used correctly. Denying access to social media could send signals
of an overbearing nature and a message of distrust. This could lead to employee
dissatisfaction and a decreased quality of work and productivity. In the
end, this would be as damaging as the social media sites themselves.
Links Photos: http://blog.hirestrategies.co.uk/erecruitment/2010/02/social-media-world-forum-london-enterprise-solutions.html
I agree. As long as it doesn't interfere with you getting your work completed, I think it should be allowed.
ReplyDeleteThis one is a tough decision because I understand where the employer is coming from, at work, you are there to work, and you are on your employer's time, they are not paying you to update your status about how much you dislike work or things of that nature. However, I understand that it should not be all work and no play for 8 straight hours, that's unrealistic and all work and no play is boring. Sometimes a nice little break is needed throughout the day. And although you may not be able to access it through your work computer, you could always use your smart phone to access Facebook, or other social media sites. The irony is, as I do my school work at my local community college's library, I am unable to access Facebook, because their system blocks it, however, I can use Twitter.
ReplyDeleteI agree that employers should embrace social media. Like anything social media has both its pros and cons, however I feel that the pros outweigh the cons. Social media opens the door to many great opportunities for businesses therefore I think employees should have access to it. I do think their should be some surveillance on the use of social media, to make sure it does not get out of hand and is being used for business purposes.
ReplyDeleteI am so lucky. Part of my current job is to post on Facebook and to monitor what is being said about our company in social media. My boss can walk by my desk at any time and see my Facebook page up. :)
ReplyDelete