Will You Block Social Media Sites In The Workplace?
First, let’s define what is social media.
According to Michael Specht, Social media are sites that encourage
- Participation
- Openness and Transparency
- Conversations and Communities
- Utilizati0n of the concept of wisdom of crowds
- And providing a rich user experience
According to Pete,
Social Media is the use of Internet tools such as Internet Networking Web Sites, Blogs, Micro Blogs and Forums to develop user created content, interact as a community, build relationships and exchange ideas and opinions with those of similar interests. Social Media is about people.
Social media is associated with new media. Example of these sites, as mentioned above, are blogs from wordpress, blospot and others, social networking sites like Facebook, Multiply, Friendster; photo sharing site like Flicker, video sharing site like YouTube and microblogging sites like Twitter and Plurk.
Some companies have regarded these as an enemy of productivity. So these sites, and many more, are blocked from employee access. In some cases, most employees don’t even have access to the internet.
Is this alright?
Following the argument above, because it was also believed that telephone (landline) can also cause waste of company time, we might as well remove telephones in the office, ha ha ha.
Social media is a “tool” that can be used to enhance the brand. Those that ignore social media may “eventually” miss the opportunity. I said “eventually” because internet access in the Philippines has not yet reached it’s saturation point, but customers and younger generations are already in social media. Likewise, generations Y, Z, and Ragnarok are already immersed in web 2.o. Soon, these people will assume the leadership both in corporate and political governance and they are expected to bring with them the pop culture that goes with social media. Therefore, companies who “crossed over” this early and integrated web 2.0 in their arsenal are believed to have positioned themselves for the changes ahead.
Going back to my illustration on “telephone”, it does not mean all employees are given a local number, much more a line for outside calls. It all depends on the job function. In the same manner, access to internet and social media sites should be given based on the same premise.
The magic word is “manage”. Social media, like telephone, can be a business and productivity tool. A good entrepreneur knew how to use all available tools for his disposal, and to prevent misuse of these. A sound policy should be in place. Inclusion of the responsible use of social media in employee orientation and training is a sound move. It will not only protect the brand, but the employees also.
Here are some of the possible uses of web 2.o and social media in business:
- Marketing (Ad and Promo)
- Customer relations management
- Corporate communications
- Recruitment
- Online Training
- Reference check
- Please add other possible uses that you can think of.
New media is the future and it is not going away any time soon.
I think blocking off stuff is detrimental to learning and development. If the boss knows how to track the work of his/her staff it should not be a problem.
I am currently training my son to do some programming in php/mysql since his college course is within the area (bs-computer science major in software engineering.)
The problem am having is that even while i am on the whiteboard lecturing him, i almost always catch him viewing his friendster or facebook in the process.
I have berated him and told him that if he goes on with what he’s doing he’s not going to learn a thing, and true to my word, i asked him to create a simple database and populate it with at least 3 records and display it on his browser, he did not even know where to start.
Social media is a great tool… And it can really be used for a company or its employee’s image… assuming that the employee is tasked to do marketing. Marketing people must exhaust every possible means by which to do their jobs… But regular employees, well… I leave it up to your readers. I’ve just given a concrete example.
More power!
I believe that Web 2.0 is a symptom of a larger consumer revolution - one that demands openness, transparency and two-way communication. The real question to me is can any company afford to ignore this? I would argue that to survive, let alone flourish, in today’s economy every business should reconsider their restrictive social media policies. Instead, why not embrace social media? Learn about Inbound Marketing and other strategies. Put in place sound but reasonable policies. Then go to work - get everyone involved like they do at Zappos and other successful social-media centric companies. Make it fun and team-oriented. You will find that the productivity issues you see now turn into evangelism for your products and services. Yes, your efforts must be carefully managed, but the results may very well save your company as you face the changing marketplace.
I work in a BPO before and I’ve used an internal blog/blogging in my team before. I post new announcements, updates, daily and weekly statistics and memos on the blog. I instructed them to check the blog as soon as they arrive the office. It ensures me that everyone is aware and updated with it comes to information and product knowledge. I also encourage them to post comments, feedbacks, suggestions and interact with colleagues.
I do agree that with proper use and setting the boundaries. This can help more the employee as a person and promote personal-professional development.
Thanks guys for your responses. These will remain a debatable issue among entrepreneurs and executives. Perhaps we can say it’s a clash of paradigms. But one thing is certain, web 2.0 is here to stay. Yes it will evolve and will conform to the social and business needs. But businesses should also adjust to include web 2.0 in their business tools.
Hi, I think social networking sites like Friendster and Facebook should be limited in the workplace. And less youtube too because it hogs bandwidth. The other new media on the other hand are quite useful sources of information even to me as a manager. If a business is more involved in IT, then it should have lesser restrictions on its employees’ use of the internet, in my opinion. And I regard it as one of the perks they may enjoy.