Social networks have become the lifeline of communication for many a working person across the world. They are the platform that people share with friends and family to catch up on what is happening in each other’s life. People have little time to actualize socialize in the real world that makes social networks especially important.

Should social networks be banned at the workplace is a rather serious and volatile discussion. And it should be handled with consideration, care and forethought. It is easy for a business to ban social networks from the workplace but, should they do this without considering the advantages that the experience of being on the sites brings to the company.

To Ban or Not to Ban

The Barracuda Networks’ Web survey revealed the following as the top reasons given by employers for wanting to ban social networks at the workplace:

• Exposure of computers and network to virus and spyware on the internet.
• Drop in employee productivity.
• Affect on available bandwidth to the business.
• Liability exposure
• Leaking of crucial corporate information and data.

Interestingly a large number of businesses use social networks to recruit employees. Then it seems strange that they want to ban the same sites where they found their employees. Social networks offer an efficient and effective mode of communication that cannot be negated and simply banning the sites would be like throwing the baby away with the bath water.

According to an AT&T survey and other research studies access to social network sites at the workplace actually increases employee productivity and efficiency. Employees also stated that access to a wide and rich source of information on social networks often provided them solutions to problems and also inspired them creatively.

74% of European employers stated the following benefits to allowing access to social networks at the workplace:

• Access to information and solution to problems.
• A medium of sharing knowledge and information between employees, suppliers and customers.
• Basis for better team building and internal structure in the workplace.

An online Nielsen survey shows that 65% of respondents watched YouTube videos at worked. And what is startling is that a section of the younger working population said that they were willing to quit their jobs if they were not allowed to access Facebook at work.

What Next?

Clearly the use of social networks is important to employees and plays a crucial role in their lives and should not be banned at the workplace. What is important is to specify how such use may be permissible in the workplace. Employee-employer interactions are essential to clarify issues such as how much time may be spent online and that company information should not be revealed, knowingly or unknowingly.

Some experts suggest that having a company presence on social networks, in the form of a group, help bind employees and strengthen the corporate team. It is interesting to note that over 40,000 MySpace groups and 4,000 Facebook groups are either company or employee based.

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