Now we can get into an in-depth discussion about this that could go on for hours but for me, it simply means that two components of life have been melded together. You have the social component, where people can share ideas by networking and you have the media component, which is the publishing of content.

Together you have the networking of people and the sharing of published content, social media.

Am I oversimplifying this and have missed the point myself, or is it really that plain and simple?

Maybe I’m just simple. 

In any case, people from around the globe meet up at social networking sites, like Twitter and Facebook, and share published content and ideas which create and extend conversations about specific topics.

Even greater, there is the opportunity to expand or otherwise add to the published content, blogging being a prime example.

Now I realize that social media is also used for marketing which then makes it a tool, but what I have described above is the very essence of the term and the tool.

The offline life has comes online

When we go to a party or social event at a nice banquet hall or other venue we mingle with others and share all sort of ideas and stories.

As you walk around the room, stop and join various conversations. You don’t just stand there, you add to the conversation. Most times people add something positive,  and sometimes controversy is introduced. But just like a blog post, the conversation has been extended by the input of others.

Continuing with the party analogy;

• There are those in attendance who will tell you what they do for a living and pass you their business card in hopes of attracting you to their list (product pitch).
• Some will even pass out those business cards to everyone in sight (spammer).
• You may tell a friend about a problem you are having in hopes of finding a solution (search engine).
• As mentioned above, networking and adding to conversations (comments).
• Too many cocktails may lead to negative and unruly behavior (malware).
• You return to your original guest and rejoin that conversation (backups)

Okay, not all gatherings are like that, but hopefully you get my point.

The online version has no physical constraints because you can move on to another venue with the click of a mouse. But the party is a good example of meeting people, answering questions, sharing knowledge and helping others.

Social media is just the online version of the same, except it’s BYOB!

At the end of the day, it is all about being a member of the community, gaining the trust and respect of those you encounter and sharing a positive experience.

In an upcoming article I will talk about the different types of parties social media.

Keep Blogging!

In the beginning the task of establishing an online presence and building a recognizable brand may seem a bit daunting, but it is important to understand that life online is very much like life offline, things take time and you must be both persistent and patient.

You’ve likely heard all the buzz about Twitter and Facebook and how everybody is online now, so you’ve decided to join the league of internet users and carve out a little space for your business. This decision is a good one, so let’s get started.

Establish a dedicated email account

If you’re like most people, you probably already have an email account, but you should not use that one. You need to keep your business activities separate from your personal life. As online business activities ramp up, having all of those communications in one central account will be a major advantage for managing and organizing the various messages.

View this as an electronic file cabinet where you can establish separate folders for each entity. It’s very important to start off organized as they’ll be little time for coming back to straighten things out later.

Recommendation: Get a Gmail account, it’s free, provides plenty of storage space and is easy to navigate. You can open an account here at Gmail.com.

Get a photo

In the business world people like to know who they are dealing with so you’ll need a nice passport style photo to use as your personal brand. Be certain that it shows your face, preferably smiling. No need for a visit to the professional photographer’s shop, just something that represents your likeness. This photo should be no larger than 80 x 80 pixels and will become your online identity, as it will eventually appear in many places. Plan to keep this photo in place for an extended period of time as your goal is to gain instant recognition.

Let’s get out there

The time has now arrived for you to establish your first online presence on one of the many social media sites. It is important to avoid over-reaching and trying to be in too many places at once, leaving your profiles incomplete. Start with one site, complete that profile then move to the next. You will be building profiles for some time, but there is no rush.

Recommendation: Sign up to these three sites as starters, completing a profile on each before moving to the next. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are critical to your online success.

When you begin to use these sites, be observant and get a feel for how things flow. You have but one opportunity to make a positive first impression so go slow and enjoy these environments. Remember, social media is all about interaction with others, sharing knowledge and gaining trust. Be a contributor to these communities.

Twitter

The signup screen looks like the image below and can be found at Twitter.com

You’ll have all sorts of options once you sign up, but here is a short 4 minute video on how to use the site.

Note: The signup screen in the video has since been updated to look like the one above, but the general functionality of the site remains accurate.

Facebook

Sign up for a Facebook account at Facebook.com. Here’s another quick video to get you started.

How to Register & Join Facebook — powered by eHow.com

A visit to the eHow site will provide you with a series of videos covering additional uses of Facebook’s Homepage, how to build a profile and a host of other helpful features.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a professional business oriented networking site that is a must for anyone in business. Here you will build a network of professionals and have opportunities to join various business groups of interest. Like the other sites, you’ll build a profile, but here you will include information related to your specific business. You can sign up for an account here at LinkedIn.com.

Conclusion

These are but three of the many sites that you can establish a presence on and build your global image. The overall strategy is to establish outpost around the internet so that you are where your potential customers are. These outpost will all lead back to your blog or website, which is what makes this process so powerful.

As pointed out earlier, do not spread yourself too thin in an attempt to cover too many sites at once. The result will be shoddy or incomplete and unprofessional looking profiles, so complete one before moving on to another.

There are more places on the internet than you could ever cover, so be judicious in your selections of sites to use and build your brand.

Be a contributor to these communities and avoid being perceived as a spammer who has only their own interest at heart. A reputation like that will be difficult to shake and must be avoided at all cost. Yes, you are marketing but this must be done in a strategic manner.

I hope that you’ve found this article helpful and that it serves to jump-start your online business career. Good luck with your future endeavors.

Readers of this article may also find interest in;

Why Start an Online Business in a Down Economy

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There are a multitude of sites out there, which could never be covered in a single article, but they all basically fall into three major categories where you can establish a profile and begin the process of building your online identity and brand.

Communication

Interactive web sites, blogs and micro-blogging sites: These are places where content is updated regularly on specific topics. The content may come in the form of written text (most popular), graphics and charts, audio or video. You will often encounter a combination of any or all of these on a single site.

The beauty here is that these sites provide for interaction and communication with the content producer, something that was always missing from static web sites. Examples of these are blogs operating on platforms like WordPress and Blogger and micro-blogging sites like Twitter and Tumblr.

Collaboration

Social news and social bookmarking: These make great tools for content consumers to search, rate, organize and bookmark web pages that you determine have a real value with regard to the topic covered. After tagging the various sites with keywords, they can easily be shared with others who are interested in the same type or similar content.

The goal is to rate these pages and articles and establish a ranking based on the number of times the content has been submitted, which establishes it’s popularity. It’s a voting process conducted by other users of the internet. Some examples of these sites are Delicious, Digg, Reddit and Stumbleupon.

Wikis: A Wiki is a website that allows for the easy creation and editing of interlinked content and is often used to create collaborative web sites. Wikipedia is the most popular of all in this category. Anyone with access to these sites can modify and organize the web page content in a collaborative manner.

Multimedia

Audio, video and photographic: By far the most entertaining of the group, in my opinion. As the word implies, this is simply multiple forms of content in a single location or site. YouTube, Flickr and Pandora are examples of sites that share video, photos and music respectively.

Advancements in new media technologies will continue to enhance the multimedia experience where content is shared.

Conclusion

Most social media and social networking will involve the categories explained above. So there you have it, the opportunity to be involved with the various outlets where content is shared and consumed by today’s internet users.

To build your successful brand you will need to be involved and have a presence in many of these places.

In the next article I will cover how to get started with social media and some of the tools that will make the task both fun and easy.

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The reasons for not having taken the plunge are many, but here are 16 reasons why you should consider employing this strategy. Besides, what do you have to lose other than your business success?

1. Competitive edge – Since there are so many other businesses that have not embraced the use of social media, an opportunity is on the table for you to jump ahead of the pack in your particular niche. One of the largest advantages in any business is to do more than the competition. If you are to gain an edge you’d best get on with it, as this opportunity will not last indefinitely.
2. Go where the people are – Your potential customers are already using this technology to assist them in making buying decisions. With millions of internet users, you need to be in the mix with them. This brings you much closer to having your finger on the pulse of the market and knowing what the current trends are and what people are really looking for in terms of a product or service.
3. You are being passed by - Just what do you think your smartest business competitors are doing? You guessed it, they are already ahead of those who are not using social media marketing and are gaining that competitive edge mentioned in # 1 above. You cannot stand by and watch from the sidelines while potential customers move in another direction.
4. Large corporations are involved - This should tell you something. Large corporations don’t do things because they are trendy or fun, they get involved because they know that these techniques work to move their bottom lines in a positive direction. It’s all about the money.
5. Old school is just that - The old school marketing models are becoming less and less effective as society as a whole embraces the Web 2 technologies. The behavior of your customers has changed and you’ll have to change with them. It’s like a new language, unless you learn how to speak it, you’ll fail to communicate or connect.
6. Your reputation and credibility - As a business operator you have no doubt worked hard to build a certain reputation, a perceived level of professionalism and fairness. When you fail to change with the times you may be perceived as out of touch, which ultimately hurts your reputation and credibility.
7. Be seen as a leader - Living on the cutting edge of technology and incorporating this into your business positions you as an industry leader and someone who knows how to adjust and provide the best services or products. When potential customers have this type of perception of you, they will turn to you as an authority figure and leader.
8. People are talking - Inevitably people will always talk about your business and what you have to offer. Word of mouth advertising, while free, can make or break your business. There will be talk no matter what you do, so have a hand in giving them something positive to talk about like “I see XYZ Company is now advertising online everywhere”. This can only mean good things for your business.
9. Establish your online voice - While the others are talking be sure to establish your voice and the ability to get your message through. This is accomplished by being continually involved in social media circles. When you are a regular, you are then not perceived as someone coming to the party late and trying to speak over everyone else.
10. Develop relationships without the constraints of time – The use of social media provides great opportunities to establish and build relationships. There is no time constraint like offline life where the parties have to be in the same place at the same time. The use of social media tools could not make this situation easier.
11. Conduct product research - With relationships established you can reach out to your potential customers and find out exactly what issues or problems they are having and would like to have solved. This is an ideal way to determine what products you can offer that people are interested in buying.
12. Play traffic cop - With a crafty social media strategy you can drive large amounts of traffic to your website or landing pages to receive your message.
13. Monitor the competition - This is of great benefit to you, as you monitor what your competition is doing to be successful. You will then have to best their offers and give a little more when possible. It’s also a means of staying informed about various industry developments that you may have somehow missed.
14. Share industry news and developments - Sharing information and the latest news and developments within your area of expertise positions you as the go-to person and an industry leader. People are always respectful of those that willingly share valuable information that helps them.
15. Joint venture possibilities - Having a presence online has always been valuable. You never know when someone may have something of value to add to your business. Perhaps they have a product that can be combined with your service or vice-versa, thereby creating an opportunity for a joint venture. This could lead to long-standing business relationships and winning situations for all involved.
16. Increased income - After all, this is the reason you started your business in the first place. When you spread your reach using the power of social media and all of the associated tools, you in effect multiply yourself. You could never physically reach so many with so little effort.

Conclusion

Developing and growing your business is one of the most important things in your life and failing to recognize great opportunities will haunt you for years to come. Be proactive, think outside of the box and visualize the larger picture for your business future.

Social media is here to stay and the sooner you get involved and develop a strategy, the sooner you’ll be reaping the rewards of your efforts. You will someday wonder why you had not gotten involved sooner than you did. It is surely not too late to embrace this marketing model and take your efforts to the next level of development.

Someday, the flood gates will open and the opportunity to gain an edge on your competition may be lost, as everyone will be doing what few are doing now.

Bonus reason – Why not?

What sound reason could there be for not promoting your business and reaching more potential customers? This is today’s marketing model so begin the process of taking action now and good luck to you in your endeavors.

Readers of this article may also find interest in;

Affiliate Marketing Income

The Difference Between Failure and Success

Why Start an Online Business in a Down Economy?

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There doesn’t seem to be a definitive one-line answer for either of these terms. If you were to ask 20 people you would likely get 20 varying responses, as everyone has their personal perception of their meaning. The definitions of these terms have no hard boundary.

This is my interpretation of these terms, which could be discussed for hours on in, but I will attempt to keep this as plain and simple as possible. I do however; hope to stimulate some conversation in the comments section below.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is not the latest software upgrade for the internet but rather a transition to a system where content and sites have integrated the use of various formats and tools. It’s a community of people who are content producers as well as consumers of content, products and services. It’s all about how people now use the internet.

The landscape has now changed forever as the web is now perceived as having reached it’s second generation of development and design. The old model was about content production from one to many; today’s model observes content production from many to many. Static web pages have been replaced by dynamic sites with sharable content and social networking capabilities.

The term “Web 2.0″ was actually introduced in 2004 to characterize the new generation of web apps which began the movement toward a more dynamic environment, as we have today. Tim O’Reilly has stated that he first encountered the term in the name of a 2004 web conference.

Social media

This term is not, in my opinion, mutually exclusive from Web 2.0. There is much similarity and crossover in terms of what they each represent. Social media is really the methods, tools and platforms used to drive the web 2.0 experience.

I find both terms fascinating as if nothing else, they always stimulate a conversation. Many have seen these as just the latest computer jargon, but if these topics are explored, you’ll find that they are far from that.

For instance, publishing technologies have made it easy for people to satisfy the need for online social interaction and the result is nothing short of amazing when you consider the enormous amount of content being shared all over the world in today’s digital environment.

Look at the various forms of content sharing available to us today. Here are just a few examples:

Communication

• Blogs
• Micro-blogs: Twitter, Tumblr, Plurk
• Social networking: Facebook, Myspace, Ning
• Social and news aggregation: Friendfeed, Ping.fm
• Conferences and other events

Collaborative Efforts

• Social bookmarking: Stumbleupon, Delicious
• Social news: Reddit, Digg
• Wikis: Wikipedia, Wikispaces
• Opinion and reviews: Eopinion, Cnet,

Multimedia

• Audio: itunes, Pandora, Soundboard
• Video: YouTube, Vimeo
• Photo: Flickr, Zooomr
• Livecasting: LiveCast

Conclusion

As you can see, this is not your Daddy’s internet. Social media is part of the Web 2.0 experience and will continue to be for years to come. The internet has changed in way perhaps not envisioned a couple of decades ago. It has become a living, thriving digital world full of knowledge and interaction.

So what is your interpretation of these terms and how have they affected your online experience?

Readers of this article may also find interest in:

Social Networking Sites – They’re in Your Business

Managing Your Social Networking Activity

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As anyone who has launched a blog knows, the building process can seem somewhat daunting during the early months. Traffic numbers rise at a snail’s pace, but you’ve got to press on with the mission.

You’ve honed your writing skills and continue to build an archive of articles, which is good, but there must be something else to incorporate into the building process that will help with your overall results.

Enter the use of social media tools.

The strategy is to expand your internet footprint , broaden your horizons and build your brand in many locations. The greater your reach the more your message will be heard and the more traffic that will eventually lead back to your blog.

The use of social media tools and technologies are an essential part of obtaining that well connected web presence. This is what will get you in front of more people, thereby drawing an increase in the traffic and readership that you desire. This is what Web 2.0 is all about, the social aspect of things.

Here are 4 things that you can do to move closer to your goals.

1. Use social networking sites – sites like Facebook, Twitter and hundreds of others are designed to bring people together in a community or group setting where information on a wide range of topics is shared and relationships are built.

There are millions of people actively involved with social networking sites, which goes to illustrate how popular the use of this valuable resource has become. A broad reach can easily be achieved using social media tools and the right strategy. Where else can you reach so many people with a few clicks of the mouse?

This activity has grown continually with 4 out of 5 U S adults now using some form of social media at least once monthly, and as you can imagine, many are daily users.

Once you join a few of these sites, you will have the ability to promote your blog on a much larger scale, while establishing relationships with others. If you haven’t as yet, sign-up with Facebook and Twitter, two of the hottest social networking sites on today’s internet.

2. Share content – There are numerous sites where you can share content like photos, videos, and your actual blog posts. Flickr, YouTube and Ezine Articles, respectively, come to mind. You retain full control over the content in terms of what you want to submit or display, which can be shared with anyone, anywhere in the world.

3. Use social bookmarking – Much like content sharing, there are numerous sites where you can bookmark a particular article and “spread the love”. Social bookmarking sites like Reddit and Del.icio.us are places where you can search, organize, and generally manage bookmarks that lead to pages on the internet. These sites use a system where the bookmarks can be saved publicly or privately if you choose. Most are stored using tags, which makes sorting quite convenient. Like everything else associated with social media, these sites have grown tremendously over the past couple of years.

4. Signup to social recommendation sites – Sites like StumbleUpon and Digg combine social bookmarking and networking and create a list of recommended sites for you depending upon your interests. Stumble, as it’s affectionately known, is one of my favorites as it’s sometimes spooky how the recommended sites are so in tune with my own personal interests. When you submit to these sites, others have an opportunity to vote on your input. Without a service like this you would likely never discover much of the highly valuable content on the internet.

To make the most of your blog building efforts you must utilize today’s Web 2.0 tools, and social media usage is a fun and effective way to build your business.

In future posts I will cover many social media techniques in greater detail. After taking action, you may find yourself amazed at some of your results.

Remember, the success of your blog can only be helped by instituting a social media strategy that builds your brand and enhances your online presence.

So where are you with building your blog?

To your blogging success!

If you found this article interesting you should also read Social Media Strategy – Some Thoughts on Building Your Brand

Since times have been tough, many families have decided to scale back on vacation plans and not travel as much as they normally would during better times. This has lead to more time spent online socializing and using alternative ways to stay in touch with friends and family while passing the time of day.

Mobile devices have become commonplace in today’s society. Been to a coffee shop or mall lately? Back to school was once about loose leafs and book bags. Today the word notebook has taken on a new meaning.

There is a societal transformation going on right before our eyes that has changed the way information is disseminated forever. People of all age groups have become a part of this social media revolution.

Consider this, social media usage increased to 75% among adults polled during 2008, up from 56% in 2007, according to a report produced by Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research. The 2009 numbers may well approach 90%, which exposes the misconception held by many who think that social media is for “the kids”.

During the first 7 months of 2009, businesses and corporations have been flocking to social media sites to establish a presence. It’s the new frontier and they aren’t just chasing kids to pitch their products and services.

Mobile devices have bridged the gap between the home, and office as people now have the ability to stay connected almost continually. You can surf the internet while riding the subway to work and Tweets and Facebbook updates are sent via wireless networks at an ever increasing rate.

I read an article recently that stated that many individuals are spending around 30 hours per week online. Wow, that’s nearly a full-time job.

Will this trend continue?

In all likelihood, it will. There are so many social media mobile apps now that it is hard to see this activity subsiding anytime in the future.

How many hours are you spending weekly on social media sites?

Just about everyone sends and receives email, but that’s about the extent of it for many. I’m often asked how I learned so much about computers and the internet, or something along those lines. My answer always includes the “you need to get out there and learn” line.

The real answer is that I started programming back in the days of RPG, Cobol, ALC and Fortran, but I’ve always spared the questioner that ancient history. In fact many of you reading this may likely not know what the heck I’m talking about, but those that do will have a smile and a “I remember when” moment. 

For today’s beginner who wants to learn more about computers and the internet I would recommend starting with something that is fun. If it’s not fun and enjoyable, people will soon give up on the idea and move on to something else.

High on the list of fun things to do that you can learn from online is today’s social media interaction. Using the internet and today’s technologies, this supports the need to socialize and share life’s experiences. It’s a great way to stay in touch with friends and family, many who may be scattered around the globe. It is also a fantastic way to meet and network with others.

Once you’ve become involved with social media, the opportunities that will unfold before you are endless. This can lead to some ideas for long-term goals or provide a means to pursue your current ideas and goals.

Determine a purpose

Before you get started, determine what it is that you would like to accomplish with the use of social media. Will you simply interact with your friends or will you approach this as a means to promote a business? The reason you want to determine a purpose is so that you can then determine the types of social media activities to get involved with.

If your passion is quilting, then you’ll want to locate a forum or quilting group online so that you are surrounded by people who share that passion and can contribute to your growth.

If on the other hand, you have no real purpose other than the excitement of getting out there and learning, or this is simply for personal use, you need to establish an online profile where people from all walks of life are gathering.

Create a profile

No matter what your reasoning for pursuing the use of social media, you’ll need to set-up a profile  on Twitter. This is one of the hottest social media sites online and can be found at Twitter.com. It’s very easy to use and you can also find it to be somewhat addictive, so I am warning you in advance.

There are many other sites as well, like Facebook, Myspace and LinkedIn. For the beginner, I recommend starting with Twitter as it’s the easiest to use and you’ll need to concentrate on just one profile in the beginning to get your feet wet so to speak.

No matter what sites you establish profiles on, some careful consideration must be given to how your fellow community members will see you. It’s that first impression thing that you must consider; there are no do-overs in that regard.

What impression do you want others to have of you and what do you want them to know about you?

• Your profile name – This is a very important decision. Think long-term here as this is what you’ll be known by. If you plan to launch a business later, childhood nicknames may not be quite what you want. Your name should be something memorable.

If you have a business now, consider using the business name which can only help build your brand.

You want to be seen as a real, genuine person, so your real name is always a winner, which I strongly recommend.

• Your profile description – This is where you will give a short description about yourself or your business. Include enough detail to get your message across but do keep it short.

Be sure to include your blog or website link, if the profile provides for this, and most do. This provides another way that your community can check you out and will be a source of some trickles of traffic.

• Get an avatar – If you are going to have an online presence then be somebody, like yourself. Don’t settle for that “newbie” avatar that the sites give you, upload a photo of yourself. Those default avatars tend to make people think you are either not serious about building your brand, or you are simply hiding.

It’s like being on Facebook without a face, just seems strange to me. Not to mention the fact that when you keep the default avatar, you have allowed yourself to be mixed in with the thousands of other profiles that look exactly the same. You cannot build a brand or an identity when you look like thousands of others.

Participate in the community

Many first time users of social media sites are somewhat reserved and really do not participate in what’s going on around them. This is okay during the early days, while you are checking out the flow of the site but remember, this is social media so be sociable.

• Follow a real life model – Like real life, when you first enter a social event where there are lots of people and you don’t really know anyone, you tend to go slow and observe the surroundings, the atmosphere, get to know the place. This is all part of learning the surroundings and how things are done, how people interact with one another, which determines how you feel about being involved.

Social media sites are no different, take your time and get a feel for the place. Don’t arrive on the scene trying to be the center of attention, just be normal and blend in with the community.

As you develop your knowledge of the community, reach out and socialize with others. Contribute to the conversations when you can add some value or another point of view.

• Don’t be a drag – Show some personality and some emotions when warranted. People want to know that you are human like everyone else. Being a non-contributor will not do much for building your brand.

• Get over the stage fright - Some of you may be timid or reserved by nature, and that’s okay, you are who you are. But you should realize that there are millions of people on the internet, true, but they are not all looking at you at once, so what’s to fear? Relax and be yourself.

• Build some relationships - If you have joined the community then be a part of the community. Establish some new friendships, share some valuable information that can help someone else solve a problem, or be a good listener by letting someone know that you understand their situation.

Ask questions when you need answers, you will find that most social media types are really helpful and friendly people. The relationships that you build will come to be very valuable as you never know when someone can help you with an issue or provide a better way of accomplishing some task.

Participating in social media sites can be very time consuming and a lot of work if you allow it to be. Set some parameters and time limits to keep things under control.

I know as a blogger, that I cannot spend all of my time socializing when I need to crank out content and tend to numerous other blogging functions. If you are building a business, you too will have to regulate the amount of time invested on these sites.

In the meantime, get out there and get started, it’s a wonderful place to be affiliated with. Build your brand, even if you are using social media sites for personal use. If you decide to launch a business later, you’ll be ahead of the curve.

Like any community function, you’ll always get back what you put into it. Be a good upstanding, honest citizen and you’ll find this to be a welcome addition to your life as the opportunities to grow and learn from others is never-ending.

See you out there!

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Many of these folks are friends of mine, but I have also heard similar complaints in the public arena.

Has the corporations and businesses stepped up this effort recently?

I recall hearing these same complaints more than a year ago, so this is really not “breaking news” or some groundbreaking policy in the workplace.

For obvious reasons, I can see that many organizations may have had their hands forced on this issue. After all, you are supposed to be working (imagine that).

Now I am no longer in the corporate world (thanks goodness) but I can imagine that no one is at the water cooler anymore because they are all online using social media tools and applications. The water cooler is online now.

The fact of the matter is that Twitter, Facebook and many others are absolutely addictive to many users, they can’t help themselves.

Disclosure: I am a social media hound myself, so I am speaking from experience 

Case in point: I have a family member who was once always in bed and in dreamland by 9:00pm. This is the same person who you can now find online at 11:30pm – regularly.

With regards to the business environments, many companies have been simply looking the other way for quite some time now. This has likely led to unintended consequences in that; actual productivity in the workplace has plummeted to unacceptable levels and the workers have become accustomed to being able to hang out on these sites without complaints from management.

That purchase order that use to take 2 days has probably been stretched out to more than a week now. This has produced a nightmare for Managers and Human Resource departments everywhere.

Some companies may have to consider some form of an Employee Assistance Program for recovering social media addicts. 

Limiting access to these sites had been met with mixed results and you can only send out so many memorandums before people become tone-deaf on the topic. So at some point the companies have had to weigh their options. They can continue to watch the drain on productivity or they can take a hard stand and block access to these sites completely.

The vast majority of companies do not have a policy on the use of social media sites, but are developing such policies after seeing the result of not having one in place.

The loss in productivity is not the only reason that companies are now clamping down and limiting the use of these sites at work. Besides the extra demands on bandwidth, there is also the inherent security risk to company networks.

The potential for ingesting viruses and malware add to the vulnerability of the computer network as a whole, making this an unacceptable risk to take.

Social media networks and all of the associated tools have really exploded in recent years, so what you’re seeing is just a part of the ever growing popularity. While fun and addictive, I seriously hope no one is jeopardizing their employment.

Like most things in life that become extremely popular, some form of regulation eventually has to be instituted.

Of course, there are many companies that actually promote the use of social media, marketing firms in particular. But that’s a post for another day.

So tell me;

What impact has social media sites had on your company’s productivity?

Has morale suffered as a result of new rules and policies?

Is this even a problem where you work?

Thanks in advance for you feedback!

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