Banning Social Media in the Workplace

I recently came across an interesting and disturbing statistic the other day. According to a Robert Half Technology CIO survey released earlier this year, over 55% of the 1,400 CIO's surveyed ban the use of social networking sites in the workplace. I really found that quite disturbing.

If the concern is productivity, individual employees in their 20's are as likely to be engaged via their smart phone as they are through their work pc. So they will find a way to engage their friends through these social outlets even when they are banned. It seems a strong stance to take in this day and age.

For corporate marketing, this may be the biggest constraint that individual marketers will face in using these tools. How can you build any type of meaningful social media engagement if your company bans it in the workplace? The better answer, in my opinion, is to build a social media policy that addresses these issues and draws the line between personal and corporate involvement. I addressed this in an earlier post this year. There is also an online database of other social media policies you may want to explore as well.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Social Media- Part 2

And the fun continues. It's been over a month since we experienced the influx of online account applications and we are still reeling from the effects. With all the attention we received from these rather angry individuals (think Tea Party angry), we've had to respond to numerous formal complaints. As with any event where other agencies are involved, it takes as much time and energy to respond as it did to create the issue. And there is always more information needed, no matter how trivial and difficult. I can't wait for this to end so we can start focusing on the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2011. (insert sarcastic comment here!)