Social media is literally taking over business as we know it. It is now hard to have a conversation about anything business related that social media is not indirectly or directly involved in. Being about to utilize social media definitely gives you a competitive advantage in the workplace. This is why it is surprising that there are still companies that are banning social media in the workplace.
I like that this article defends social media in the workplace:
The figure that the article gave for the companies that have social media sites blocked for their employees is in my opinion, shocking. 54% is way to high for how prominent social media is in today’s society.
According to the article, half of all Americans will own smartphones by the end of the year. What this means for businesses is that even if they choose to block sites like YouTube and Facebook, their employees have unrestricted access to them on their own person phones.
Overall I think that it is silly for companies to block social media from their employees because they can access it on their phones if they are that persistent on using it. I feel like if you have the kind of people that work for you that you can’t trust to just take breaks for short periods of time to see what is happening on social media, than you do not have the right type of employees working for you. What do you all think? Is social media too distracting for employees to handle or is it a nice option to give them during a break?
I understand that social media may be distracting for employee's in the work place and the reason why company executive's would want them banned. Nowadays however, social media has become so common that it is just like using your cell phone for a call or text message to communicate with friends. Although, the cell phone can also easily be seen as a tool for distraction's, company's have come to accept the fact that employee's are going to use them. I think the focus of banning social networks at the work place will soon shift to something else. Besides, company's should be excited that this distraction can actually help to promote them and drive sales up.
ReplyDeleteLiterally every place that I have ever worked has banned social media sites. I always found it a little frustrating because like many, I am addicted to social media and I constantly am wasting time on these sites. What I think that companies are worried about is whether or not employees will spend a large amount of time on social media that does not pertain to work. However, like you said, many people have smart phones and will just access these websites there if companies choose to block social media on their computers. Because social media has grown so much and so many people spend an infinite amount of time on these sites, it is important for employers to hire the right type of employees that would spend an acceptable amount of time on social media and devote the majority of their time to their work. If employees do not take advantage of having access to social media websites and still spend the needed time on doing their job while at work, I see no reason in companies needing to block social media from employee use.
ReplyDeleteTyler I think that you have a valid point that social media can be very positive for companies in that they can promote their company to hundreds of people with a simple status update.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you Katie that if companies hire the right type of employees, then things like how much time they are spending on social media sites should not be a problem. I have never worked somewhere that social media was banned but I would imagine it would be very frustrating.
I think it is very dumb for companies to go out and block their employees from accessing social media websites. And yes, most do have smart phones and yes, most will look it up on it if they are blocked from their computer. Now I do believe that companies should block various websites that may contain porn or illegal material, but that's just common sense in my mind. Ultimately it is the companies decision one how they run their company, but with the rising influence of social media, don't companies want their name spread all across the internet in a meaningful manner?
ReplyDeleteI can see why employers would think blocking social media sites is a good idea since they do not want their employees to be distracted while at the work place. However social media can't truely be blocked since smart phones are so prevalent. People will just constantly use their phones if a company has blocked social media sites on their servers and it could be an even bigger distraction. Rules should be set forth when an employee joins the company about what constitutes as wasting time while at work and what punishments can be handed down. Blocking social media sites is not the answer though.
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