Blocking social media sites probably not practical.
Social media websites introduced a new problem to the workplace. What to do about people spending all day on Facebook and Twitter. It’s not a new problem, these sites have been around for years. The solution many business managers/owners/policy makers are still coming up with is simple. Block them! Organizations responded the same way to Hotmail and Yahoo! email services.
There’s one very big difference between the workplace in the nineties and the workplace today. There were no Internet enabled cell phones with Facebook apps installed on them. The rationale for blocking the sites becomes fairly impractical when your staff can update their status, giggle at a funny picture or chat with their friends on their favorite social media tool. Oh, and their cell phones are connected ALL DAY.
The Nielsen Company recently published a study showing we are spending 82% more time year on year on social media sites. That simply means, despite your business’ best efforts to block access by your staff to these sites, they spent 82% more minutes updating, sharing and giggling on them last year than the year before. It’s a futile waste of time trying to block them. My advice to you Mr. CEO is simple. If you can’t beat them, join them! They are out there spending time connecting with others, creating content and sharing it whether you like it or not. If you could get a word in edgewise they could be creating and sharing content about your brand. If you showed them that the brand is interested in them, they may even use their status update to brag about you.
Instead of burying your corporate head in the sand, get yourself a good social media policy, implement it and become good at playing on the social media field. Because whether you like it or not, the game will go on without you.
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