BANNED IN THE U.S.A.

In many large corporations, Facebook and other social networks are banned. Some organizations have taken it a step further by banning their personnel from using personal mobile devices during business hours (by confiscating mobile devices at the start of the work day OR by installing ‘blocking’ radio waves – which prevent mobile devices from receiving signals when in the corporate building(s).

What fun it must be to work at a place like that, right?

There are several studies that show office productivity decreases when sites like Facebook are banned from a corporate environment. There is also the fact that Facebook bans also find they lose the benefit of their staff giving their company free marketing support. Oh yeah, and let’s not forget the push-back and disloyalty that can be created when an organization treats personnel like junior high school students (i.e. taking away cell phones).

So why, then are companies willing to lose out on the marketing potential of their staff talking about them on Facebook?

Most corporations site the issue of not trusting their staff to say positive things about the firm (may as well get rid of your Google reviews then while you’re at it, ban Yelp – or just remove the ability for any employee to search the Internet while at work, right?).

If you cannot trust staff members to communicate a positive image for your company (online or offline) – that says more about the organization’s culture, employment practices and employee relationships than it does about the access they have to social networking sites.

Sounds like an organizational problem, not a ‘Facebook’ problem to me!

A new study emphasizes the following:

Psychologists have discovered that Facebook usage during studying has no impact on the students who use Facebook, compared with those who do not. The fear was that Facebook would contribute to lower grades because of the distraction. However, this is not the case.

This finding suggests suggest that staff selection is the key issue. If a company has issue with social networks, it may mean that they have larger human resources issues. Rather than shutting off passive (yet fruitful) marketing channels – why not stop hiring people who come to work to screw around?