Taking a break from history for a minute, let’s talk about social media…
We have spoken with several clients lately who expressed confusion about having a social media strategy when they do not allow their employees access to social media content while at work.
This obviously brings up several issues. Let’s talk about the blocking of social media sites at work first. My personal opinion is that this is a short sighted strategy. Ten years ago many of these same companies likely blocked the Internet from employees and I would bet most now have access to it. They have figured out that there are benefits and now weigh the good against the bad. They understand that you have to judge your employees on the results, not as much how they get there, and then deal with ones that spend all day on YouTube the same way you would deal with someone who simply spends all day in the break room, etc.
But… assuming we accept that some companies do not believe you should be on these sites while at work, let’s talk about whether a company that blocks these sites from their team keep should push information out through social media channels. Is it hypocritical? Can you make exceptions for those employees responsible for publishing this content and allow them on Facebook during work hours?
I think if you believe people should not engage in social media during work hours, then fine. But if you assume your customers use Facebook in the off hours and you are not there sharing information with them and gathering their opinions, you are missing out. So I do believe it is worth having a social media strategy even if you do not have your own employees using these tools during the day. I think it makes sense to say we assume people use these tools in the evening and on weekends and we need to be there. I think it is acceptable then to allow a small team access to these sites if they are responsible for your strategy. They need this obviously to publish the information but also to stay up to speed on what is going on in the social space.
What are your thoughts? Curious on this one…
I don’t believe so – we don’t block our employees from facebook and we trust them not to abuse it at work. Our employees are also admins on our facebook page so I expect them to use it accordingly. And since most twittering and facebooking happens in the morning, what good would it be to block it until they get home at night.
We agree. Much like some companies and some governmental organizations blocked the Internet 10 years ago, some still choose to block social media sites. I believe, bias included, that most of us in this business do not agree with blocking these sites.
The question really is given that they want to block access for employees is it hypocritical to also use social media to promote your business or communicate organization information? Our argument is that a company or organization, especially governmental organization, has a responsibility to communicate via acceptable channels to the public. Social media and the web has become that channel and they should embrace it. The staff updating these channels should have access during the day even if the people doing other work are blocked…