Should social media have a place at work - CareerEnlightenment.com

A distraction both beneficial and hazardousThe most obvious complaint about social media usage in the workplace levied against employees is that it distracts from the work at hand. Why is an employee browsing their cousin’s wedding photos when they should be working on a company project?You could argue that an employee surfing social media sites would be negligent of their time, but you could equally make the argument that their usage functions as necessary decompression time from work-related stress. A few minutes on Twitter is a small price to pay for worker morale. Happy workers are good workers,One could also make the case that social media usage can tangibly benefit people in the workforce. Those in the creative industry, for example, could chance upon a shared story or link to a site that gives them unexpected inspiration for a project or an article.An employee conducting research might find that social media outlets provide some of the best information on a subject. Company contacts might prefer social media as their primary means of communication. The uses of social media are nearly endless, providing rich material for just about anyone who looks in the right places.Here to stayIt’s 2012, and the Web 2.0 movement is ages old by any technological standard. Social media platforms have stood the test of time, evolving from innocent spheres of socialization between friends to an incomprehensibly huge structure that dictates much of the information we receive today.Social media tools definitely have their drawbacks, but for almost any workplace the benefits will far outweigh them.