Survey reveals workers’ social network attitudes
A new poll of the nation's workers has shed light on how many people spend their working day using social networking sites and how employers feel about this.The study, carried out by Reed as part of its Social Networking at Work study, revealed that 33 per cent of staff admit to using sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube while in the office.
Of this percentage, 64 per cent accessed the sites through a smartphone and 36 per cent though their work computer, with 62 per cent claiming to use these sites only once or twice a day and 24 per cent between three and five times.
The prevalence of social networking in offices has led to many organisations outlawing the practice, with 28 per cent of firms implementing a complete ban on workers' internet use and a further 40 per cent imposing at least some form of restriction.
Interestingly, two in three workers thought that firms were right to ban or restrict usage, suggesting that many employees have become as disillusioned with their colleagues using the sites as their managers have.
People working in marketing and IT appeared to be the biggest culprits, with more than four in ten workers accessing social networking sites in the office, though only 27 per cent of finance professionals did so.
However, companies looking at the figures which plan to follow the 68 per cent of firms who have imposed restrictions may want to note that 35 per cent of workers claim to have used the sites for business purposes and a further 55 per cent for a combination of professional and personal matters.
Facebook remained the most popular social networking site among workers, accounting for 45 per cent of total usage, compared with 20 per for LinkedIn, 18 per cent for YouTube and 14 per cent for Twitter with three per cent spent on other blogs.
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Posted by John Oak
