Discussion on:

10 reasons NOT to block social networking at work

I had trouble determining how I wanted to answer that second poll question. Do I think companies have the right to block access? Yes. Do I think that, in most cases, the benefits of allowing access, such as they are, would outweigh the risks? Absolutely. Do I think that blocking access (or allowing it, for that matter) is a moral issue? No, I don't. Were you really trying to determine right vs. wrong with this question?

Actually, Jack's not responsible for the poll questions, that was me -- I thought it would be interesting to see how many members work for organizations that block access to social networking sites -- and then I thought this might be a good place to let people speak for or against that practice. Not a moral determination at all, just opinions. There are almost always nuances and situational considerations that make poll questions seem too inflexible -- but this poll is meant to be just an informal way to see how feelings are trending on the issue. I'm glad you used this thread to qualify your viewpoint, because this is where the real discussion can happen.
--Jody

While I was tempted to address multiple points, this is the one that really got my attention. I don't see how simply granting access will provide those skills. My Twitter experiences have shown that I haven't been able to get any value out of the service on my own. The web is full of anecdotal evidence of people regretting the personal information they inadvertently exposed on the web. Do you want them to use the same untrained behaviors in the company's name, with company information? Without training, those users could be more dangerous than helpful.

The early poll results indicate I'm in the minority, but I still view social networking as business tools primarily for the HR and Marketing departments only. Most of the other advantages Jack mentions can be handled in house, on this side of the firewall.

Thanks for your post Charlie. You took the words right out of my...well, keyboard I guess!

Seriously, anyone who has spent any amount of time on social networking sites reading the posts of many young people would recognize the misspellings, lack of proper capitalization and/or punctuation, and SMS text message slang being used in place of actual words.

If the argument is that I need to allow young people to have access to social media while they are working at my business in order to improve their morale, I simply could not disagree any more strongly.

The problem, in part, is that the younger generation has grown up with social media and text messaging as their primary forms of communicating with their friends. Many have difficulty with even basic email communication as they lack the spelling and vocabulary skills required in business.

I don't feel like they need better morale at work - they need a stronger work ethic! Perhaps in my generation socializing with my friends didn't take place via electronic media that could reach me anywhere at any time. Nevertheless, my employers made it clear that while at work I was expected to work - not socialize! We always had strict policies regarding the personal use of business email or telephones. We were allowed to make personal calls using our cell phones on breaks or we could use phones provided in employee lounge areas, but not at our desks while working. No one seemed to think that type of restriction was improper or negatively impacted "morale".

If being a "cool" employer means that I will allow my employees to do whatever they want whenever they want to do it, then I am absolutely NOT cool! Policies need to be in place that allow the employer to make sure that employees are doing the work they are being paid for.

I also have firewall security to protect my IT infrastructure and my company's proprietary information. My employees are trained to not share proprietary information unless it is on a need-to-know-basis to get their jobs done. Allowing the use of social networking in the workplace simply makes it too easy to allow a stupid remark to be posted online that may not have been shared otherwise.

Our company takes the stance that marketing and HR "require" access to social networking sites. I believe even that is a stretch. I keep hearing how it's a great "recruiting" tool. Have we hired anyone from FB? Not to my knowledge.

How often do you guys follow content streams from commercial entities? Maybe special interest stuff, but are you a "fan" of Pepsi Co? Come on, it's more a blatant attempt to be hip.. which is more sad than trendy.

Some very good points in this thread, but we can't deny the success at Pizza Hut and Dominoes had with marketing and PR. Let's learn to use them and address the concerns pointed-out above.

wonder about how sad the lives of the people on FB that make the pizza company use of the system are.

I can't seem to grasp how allowing my clerk in accounts payable to access Facebook will make her work harder or better. Especially when time sensitive tasks are at hand.
Time management isn't one of her stronger traits and social networking would certainly distract her during office hours.
Breaks and lunchtime - have at it, but not on the clock!

I definitely think that it depends on the work environment. If you have a job that doesn't require you to be up to date and current with events and news then I would say social media should be limited to the lunchbreak. If you live and work in technology you know that staying up with the most current trends and information is a critical part of the job. I remember my boss saying to me, "you have to consider the place we work" social media is an important way to stay connected.

"Social Media" sites are a malware/identity-theft/reputation-destruction super-highway. Allow access from company systems at your own peril.

allow those same employees to spend all day "around the water cooler"?
How about leaving and hanging out at the local coffee shop to "socialize"?
Social networking via Facebook, Twitter, whatever-comes-next should be
on the employee time, not time I'm paying for!
Allowances can be made for emergencies and such, but too many times
"work" is ignored while that all-important text message MUST be replied to
immediately!

Long before these silly sites, I was examining the progress of a project that was running behind schedule (by 18 months). They were only putting TAG spreadsheet data into a database for maintenance scheduling. I and two other people scrapped what had been done and started from scratch. In six weeks the maintenance program was on board the Oil Rig and being used by the engineers. What has this to do with social networking? Well when the computers they were using were examined they had over 10,000 number plates entries and were doing a bit of business on the side. None of those caught out raised one objection by quietly slithered away hoping their reputation would not follow them. Your item 10; I do not agree with an employee should not be giving any company information to employees of other companies. (You want your employees to know what other companies are doing and to be in touch with the heartbeat of your market. What better way to accomplish this than with social networking? Yes, they can network with email, but not on as grand a scale). I think it is obvious you have not been in any business that holds trade secrets that have been developed in-house, otherwise you would been singing from another songsheet. I don't often find myself hostile to most of what you write, but in this instance I would stay "stick to what you know." Don't change your day job!

Not all solutions, policies or 'freedoms' will suit all. I wouldn't want a bulldozer driver being distracted by IM conversations. However - employers sometimes forget that worktime is also the employee's time and that they have chosen to be there. As the social space expands employers that do not actively hobble their staff will be more sought after and the workers will be happier. Benefits will flow - maybe not immediately enough for some 'Bosses' - and my workplace is a practical example of that. I won't go into specifics but the place I choose to work for realised the benefits of having a 'social savvy' workforce about a year ago. To the point of now actively initiating staff seminars to educate the old duffers like me! Not bad for an old school company 50 years old.

Practical benefits have been re-establishing contacts with good past workers and recapturing their training and skills. Well, those that can use the social pages... the time that an employer begrudges for networking will bite them. Our younger staff know that work has to be completed and stay back to do so. For free, out of respect. The odd out-of-hours emergency has been promptly dealt with adding to kudos for the business. That is worth $$$ for tolerating the odd daily FB message. Those that 'get it' will survive the new competitive more easily.

I could argue real life points against almost all the statements in the article. I've seen social media be a place for workers to trash their boss or co-workers b/c they are having a bad day. Totally unacceptable. If you want damaging marketing that will hurt a company's image - this is the way to do it.

If anything, allow workers to do their "social thing" on their breaks only. FaceBooking through the day or sending tweets is a distraction and I've seen it have a negative impact on workplace productivity.

Also, txting is tricky as many parents have to stay in touch with babysitters, their kids etc. and in today's world that is important - I understand. But it should not be used for much else.

Unless it's their job to use social media tools, then you don't have to worry about whether they are social savvy or not. If it's part of their job then that's another story and guidelines should be set and reinforced.

Being a healthcare provider we dont have advertising, marketing etc so why would I ever want to give my staff a "tool" which diverts them from my business. Bewteen 8 and 5 its my dollar they are spending and I choose NOT to spend it on "Social Network" sites.
It seems to me that most of the proponents of this "must have" viewpoint are so far removed from the real world of public and private business that they have no idea of what it is like to run all or a part of a business. Lets face it we are (most of the world anyway) still in recessionary times and jobs are not plentiful so I dont even need to contemplate this to attract good applicants. If you think that sounds mercenary - it isnt - its just good business.

Facebook is the "source of all evil" on the internet. All of the cute little add-ons that people add to their pages are rife with malicious code. To suggest that a business open their network to that kind of vulnerability is naive and irresponsible!

There is NO NEED for FB or any of these other distracting sites to be accessed from company computers period!! The work the company deals will never require any use of these sites!!!

My opinion is that unless your are in a business that requires access to these various sites then NOT ON COMPANY EQUIPMENT or TIME ($$$). If it were possible I would jam employees phones (iphones,BB,etc.) from accessing these sites when within the walls of the office! If your on FB on your iphone,BB then you are not working when on the clock!!!!

Really, if you have to force people to do work, then you'll have them trying to avoid work at every opportunity. Relaxing the oppressive company attitude and treating employees like they are people with lives and trusting them to get work done enables them to get more done and be happy about doing work.

Made me push the button 5 times today. My Finger is worn out and I'll be unable to use it for weeks now.

A line from Gorge Jettison who's sole job was to push a button when the system needed reseting at Spacely Space Sprockets or whatever it was called.

I don't currently know of any business other than Government Departments maybe that can afford to pay people to Goof Off all day and never do any work. Private Enterprise unlike Government Departments do not owe their workers a living or even a nice place to work they require work to be done and caring a bit of paper round all day does not qualify as Work unless you are on the Board of Directors and even they demand that the work gets done.

Once upon a Time before Computers they employed a Typing Pool which had lots of young girls who did the typing. They where replaced with 1 worker and a computer, Personally I can not see any business going back tot he days of the Typing Pool and expecting them to place expensive equipment and even more expensive Internet to every worker to pay them to Goof Off all day is only something that an Idiot would think is desirable.

Col