In reading the selection from The Social Organization I came across an example of a reason that a firm limited the use of social media in the workforce. It discussed how male employees were trying to find dates with female employees on social media. Like this example, I have heard of several organizations that implement a similar policy. Some do it for this reason, others because they feel that it will distract from workplace productivity. In extreme cases they don't limit it to just traditional social media, they block all websites that are, by the organization's definition, irrelevant to work and probable to impact productivity negatively.
However, this could be detrimental. While there could be a lack of productivity, an organizations should do something else to ensure that these employees are no longer an issue. The ability to connect with collaborative websites and groups is essential to any groups success. I think that quite a few organizations find themselves in the "no stage" where people fear the implementation of social media. I think this censorship can be a result of this.
Through out the reading I noticed many ways social media could be harmful to a business both internal and external! This is a great example of how detrimental a simple mistake on the internet can be. I think that it is smart for companies to have a social media policy. In Chapter 2 of The Social Organization, it explains that it is better to have a policy than strategy. This ensures that colossal damages due to social media will not be as much of a surprise because their is already a policy enacted; not just a strategy to cope with what happened.
ReplyDeleteI believe the social media policy in companies is a wonderful thing. Although social networks like LinkedIn is a great way for professionals to connect, other networks like Facebook are considered less professional. So the policy separates the business from pleasure.
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