While some companies embrace the use of Facebook, even for work-related collaboration purposes, other companies are setting up firewalls to ban the use of Facebook in the workplace.
In an episode of, “For Immediate Release,” Shel Holtz speaks with CEO and President of Serena Software, Jeremy Burton about Serena “Facebook Fridays.”
Every Friday, the company allots an hour of time for employees to spend solely on Facebook. Before the company implemented the program, about 30% of employees already had active Facebook accounts. Virtual attendance of “Facebook Friday” isn’t required, though employees are encouraged to take advantage of this social media usage time.
Burton believes Facebook brings people together and makes up for the “human” communication that’s lost through channels such as email, text messaging and content management systems lack. However, Facebook also allows employees to interact with people on all levels of the company, breaking down hierarchal barriers to upper level management.
Facebook brings the subculture that exists within any organization offline to the virtual realm. Burton compares Facebook to sitting at Starbucks; we watch people go by and interact with others. Based on watching conversations between people in this subculture, we learn something about them or are, therefore, more inclined to strike up conversations.
Facebook is comparable to the “water cooler” within the organization where corporate gossip and personal or professional anecdotes are passed along. Facebook just takes water cooler relationships and cements them online.
However, critics of corporate Facebook argue that it reduces productivity, slows down bandwidth, compromises corporate professionalism and causes danger to security. Do employees share too much about their personal lives on Facebook? Will they spend too much time and money people-watching on this “cyber Starbucks?”
Organizations need to realize that no matter if they ban or embrace Facebook, employees will find a way to use it, and it will ultimately affect the organization in some way. The same information that gets passed through the grapevine at the water cooler, and then home to the dinner table or to happy hour, now has the possibility to circulate on Facebook as well.
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April 3, 2009 at 12:59 am
Heather Thoreson
Lindsey, I completely agree with you. Now, people are spending more and more time online and not at the actual, physical water cooler. With everything else becoming online, it is no surprise that the daily conversations between coworkers are moving online as well. It doesn’t matter if a company tried to ban Facebook or any other social media networking sites. Like you said, people will find a way to get on these sites and use them at any point during the day. Their conversations will occur no matter what, and it just happens that they are occurring on Facebook instead of other mediums now. People used to call each other on the phone, talk at the watercooler, or stop by each other’s home to discuss gossip. The information got passed to many people already anyway. Employees just took what they have been doing, and adapted it to the ever-changing environment.
April 3, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Mandy Smoot
Lindsey,
Conversations among employees are definitely moving online, especially at the personal level. I have worked at Wachovia for the past two summers as a teller. Wachovia banned access of Facebook and other social networking sites from employees. Internet access was only allowed for Wachovia related work. Even if we tried typing in a social network URL, it would still deny us access. I did not disagree with Wachovia’s policy because sometimes social networking sites can hinder worker productivity. As a teller, I was responsible for interacting with customers and completely their bank transactions. Social networking was not part of my job description. For example, Facebook would distract my attention away from my customers because I would be trying to interact with personal conversations on the social network site. I definitely think that these conversations will occur not matter what, but I do think there is a time and place for gossip and personal conversations. After work is a great place for social networking sites to be used. Companies could also allow an allotted amount of time for employees to use social networking sites throughout their work day.