The Bottom Line on Social Networking in the Workplace

24 July 2009

A recent report from Nucleus Research and reported on by BusinessWeek found that the average company allowing access to Facebook loses 1.5% of total employee productivity across the organization. I’m fortunate to work in a profession that pretty much mandates I am active in social media for a magnitude of reasons, one of which is the profession’s move to “PR 2.0.” But more than that, I find that sites like Facebook and Twitter actually increase my professional productivity. I can ask my network of friends their insights, thoughts and recommendations on any number of topics related to PR, marketing, technology and more. And since my friends are highly diverse across geographies, genders, income levels, and interests, I get pretty diverse feedback that gets me out of my box. I can see what networking events are bubbling to the top among the industry’s who’s who – saving precious time that can be wasted by attending events that can be a let-down. I can easily identify mutual connections to would-be business associates and ask for introductions. And, these sites allow me to forge deeper connections with the clients, media and colleagues I work (and social network) with.

You can find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/juliemathis and on Twitter at /juliemathis.

Published on 24th July, 2009 by Julie Mathis

Posted in Cool Social Media Tools |

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3 Responses to “The Bottom Line on Social Networking in the Workplace”

  1. Niall Cook
    27 July 2009
    8:00 am

    I look forward to their next report that will no doubt measure the impact on productivity of meetings, conference calls, coffee and cigarette breaks, hiring the wrong people, cutting back on training, etc., etc.

    When will these organisations learn (probably never, as it’s usually simply just a quest for coverage in order to flog some anti-social networking software) that it’s not the platform that impacts productivity, but the way in which it is used.

    I’ll bet that those same “average” companies have also done next to nothing to educate and train their staff on appropriate use of social media in the workplace.

  2. mirmat
    29 July 2009
    11:41 am

    I’m with you!!! social networking sites increase my productivity and let me share with my friends, or not, the stuff i’m finding out!

    greetings from spain!

  3. mirmat
    29 July 2009
    11:42 am

    I’m with you!!! social networking sites increase my productivity and let me share with my friends, or not, the stuff i’m finding out!

    greetings from barcelona!

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