By Josh Hanagarne
World’s Strongest Librarian
I recently attended Internet Librarian 2009 in Monterey, California. Other than the clam chowder I had on the wharf, here was the most memorable part of the trip:
When a speaker began to lose the audience’s attention, Twitter, Facebook, and even Second Life started popping up on everyone’s phones and laptops. This conference wasn’t cheap. I wondered how much money was being paid to the people in the room, all working on their social networking chops.
But I was no better.
I see the same thing at work. I know a lot of organizations have banned and/or blocked all social networking sites on work computers. Is this a good idea?
Employees should know 2.0 skills
Businesses and organizations would be crazy not to market with social networking tools. I get a full third of my own blog traffic from Facebook. The more employees marketing the business that are conversant with social networking, the greater the potential return on investment.
But…
2.0 Skills can backfire
Social networking skills could not be used to waste time if they were 1) not taught at work; 2) forbidden at work. Think about it?
Can you even begin to guess at the amount of hours each day that employees spend on social networking sites while they’re on the clock. I bet the numbers would be absolutely staggering, and far beyond the guess I would make.
I’ve seen an increasing number of patrons approaching our desks and saying, “I’m sorry, can I bother you for a second?” Invariably, the librarian is startled and looks up from Twitter, staring out of eyes that have not blinked in far too long.
This question is not going away
I don’t know the answer, but I’m convinced that these powers can be used for good. What is the balance between having the social networking sites be available for use, but also to ensure that they are used productively at work?
Josh Hanagarne
Get Stronger, Get Smarter, Live Better…Every day
About the Author: Josh Hanagarne is the twitchy giant behind World’s Strongest Librarian, a blog about living with Tourette’s Syndrome, kettlebells, book recommendations, buying pants when you’re 6’8”, old-time strongman training, and much more. Please subscribe to Josh’s RSS Updates to stay in touch.
Social media takes up so much peoples time…the time people spend on facebook is crazy. And at work it is so distracting. You absolutely right on your observation. Good post.
It’s more than that. Businesses that once flocked to Facebook when it was novel are getting wise and retreating. Ads used to encourage people to “join us on Facebook!” now fewer and fewer businesses do. They advertise only their own URL. Why? If you’re going to send people somewhere, send them to your own website, not away from your website to Facebook’s. No business plan should include being beholden to Facebook or the like in any way at all. When you keep your list of contacts yourself, it is a business asset. If you let Facebook do it “for” you, it is their asset, NOT yours. Business people, MBAs etc. tend to understand the not-so-subtle issue of ownership, and so are the first to invest in themselves rather than a Facebook owned version of them that, when push comes to shove, Facebook controls.
Facebook connections are poor quality and not really yours to take with you. For those who have figured it out, a Facebook profile indicates that the individual is not sufficiently informed or aware to behave professionally online.