5 April 2007
Social media use high in workplace
Study finds nearly half of all employees use social media during work time.
A survey by IT security firm, Clearswift, has found that 46% of the 827 office employees questioned in the US use social-media systems regularly during work hours.
The most popular activities include external blogging, contributing to online forums and using web-based e-mail applications, the study found.
"This survey demonstrates how popular the new web 2.0 sites and services are becoming," says Clearswift's COO, Ian Bowles. "It's clear from this research that organizations need to take a closer look at the social-media sites that their employees are using at work."
Businesses can't simply lock down access to Web 2.0, because that will prevent them from capitalizing on the benefits of social media.
Promoting responsible use
The Clearswift survey also found that 51% of employees use social-media
tools for more than an hour a week, with 13% saying they use them for
more than five hours.
Bowles says businesses need to encourage responsible use of Web 2.0.
"We urge businesses to take a sensible approach to the risks posed by the internet and social-media sites," says Bowles. "They can't simply lock down access to Web 2.0 services, all that'll do is prevent them from capitalizing on the real benefits social media has to offer."
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