Positive Distraction Social Media and the Workplace

By Kiara Zuchkan

Image  by  elminium  (via  Flickr)  

Due to social media networks, the line between our social and professional lives

has been blurred.

Image  by  blaahhi  (via  Flickr)  

Today, 75.4% of firms use social media for business purposes.1

And 52.4% of those firms allow their employees to access social media sites while

working.1

Image  by  Simon  Cocks  (via  Flickr)  

Social media outlets – whether accessed

through a computer, smartphone, or tablet – have proven to be very distracting...

Image  by  jseliger2  (via  Flickr)  

...yet more and more companies are allowing their employees to

connect.

Image  by  alles-­‐schlumpf    (via  Flickr)  

In fact, 64.2% of firms do not monitor the use of Twitter, Facebook, or other social media

sites in the office.1

Image  by  gillicious  (via  Flickr)  

So why would 68.9% of companies choose to implement policies that allow employees to

use social media in the workplace1?

Image  by  Daniel*1977  (via  Flickr)  

New research suggests that workers who are encouraged to interact via social media are

among the most productive.2

Image  by  lovesonic  (via  Flickr)  

But how could one possibly focus with the ever-present distraction that is social

networking?

Image  by  philip.bitnar  (via  Flickr)  

Joe Nandhakumar - a professor at Warwick Business School - attributes the increase in

productivity to the “theory of virtual co-presence”.2

Image  by  University  of  the  Fraser  Valley  (via  Flickr)  

This theory is defined as “the

ability to collaborate with others over long

distances in relatively short

productive sessions to resolve

problems or accomplish tasks.”2

Image  by  the  Freelens  (via  Flickr)  

Nandhakumar and his team studied a large European company that encouraged their employees to interact with customers using

social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Skype...

Image  by  babyben  (via  Flickr)  

...and the newly social-media-empowered workforce was able to accomplish more sales and customer service tasks in a shorter period

of time.2

Image  by  vanhookc  (via  Flickr)  

Additional benefits of using social networking in the office include increased collaboration

among co-workers...

Image  by  ellajphillips  (via  Flickr)  

...and strengthening the company’s digital literacy in order to compete for young talent.2

Image  by  scherno  (via  Flickr)  

Companies also believe the use of social media in the office leads to happier, more

comfortable employees.3

Image  by  mastrobiggo  (via  Flickr)  

"If you're at work 12 or 15 hours a day, there are times when you want to break away and have a

connection with reality, and connecting with family and friends allows you to do that. These tools allow you to do that...without going stir

crazy.”3

- Kevin Rice, enterprise architect at AT Kearney

Image  by  stesciuba  (via  Flickr)  

Despite the positive results, resistance to implementing social media policies in major

companies is common.

Corporations fear that social networks represent potential security breaches.2

Image  by  sam.d  (via  Flickr)  

“Ubiquitous digital connectivity should be

seen not as an unwelcome

interruption but as part of the changing nature of knowledge work itself that needs

to become part of normal, everyday

practices of contemporary organizations.”2

- Joe Nandhakumar Image  by  Esparta  (via  Flickr)  

Management needs to ask themselves: do the positive effects on their employees from

using social media outweigh possible security threats?

Image  by  Richard  Carter  (via  Flickr)  

If so, we will soon be looking at a new, social-media-equipped workforce.

Image  by  PitsLamp  photography  (via  Flickr)  

Sources Cited

1 "Social Media And The Workplace." The Social Clinic RSS. N.p., Mar. 2013. Web. 9 May 2013. <http://www.thesocialclinic.com/social-media-and-the-workplace/>. 2 Warner, Bernhard. "When Social Media at Work Don't Create Productivity-Killing Distractions." Businessweek.com. N.p., 1 Apr. 2013. Web. 9 May 2013. <http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-04-01/when-social-media-at-work-dont-create-productivity-killing-distractions>. 3 Gaudin, Sharon. "More Companies Are OK with Employees Using Facebook at Work."Computerworld.com N.p., 26 Mar. 2012. Web. 15 May 2013. <http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9225558/More_companies_are_OK_with_employees_using_Facebook_at_work>.