Social Networking in Today’s Workplace
Abstract
This research examines the risk associated with employees accessing social networking sites from the workplace. It explores employer concerns over what employees say on these sites and what malware employees bring into corporate networks. It also looks at problems with unwanted attention brought to companies by employees posting derogative information about the company and coworkers. The biggest problems with posting on social networking sites is terrorist use them to select targets. Coupled with military members loosely posting vital information on these sites national and corporate security are at risk.
There is extensive research on the risk associated with social
…show more content…
This literature review was completed to investigate social networking in the workplace and the risks associated with it. Since social networking has been introduced into the work place security professionals have weighed the risk with the benefits. Their goal is to ensure corporate assets and secrets are safe from cyber criminals and competitors. Research shows social networking is a security risk in today’s workplace.
Results
Lehrman (2010) concluded social networking sites present a real danger to corporate security. He surmised the most sophisticated cyber security systems are vulnerable to a security breaches through employee activities. Lehrman says information can be retrieved by simply asking an employee for the information on social networking sites. Schneier and Ranum (2009) concur with Lehrman and say social networking is so common within the workplace that employees have a false sense of security. Employees, with this sense of security, divulge too much information about corporate secrets. Jaques (2009) revealed social networking sites can open backdoors into corporate systems. This allows unwanted spam which accounts for about 90% of the data slowing corporate systems. Jaques also addressed productivity loss of employees at a minimal level of 1.5 percent for corporations allowing social networking access.
Lehrman (2010)
Social networks have been making a splash in the internet world over the past couple of years. In some studies into the monitoring of social media activity by employees has
This literature review will be focusing on the interactions of social media and employment. It will discuss the scientific findings of how communications processes in the workplace are affected by social media. In this paper, we will show: (a) There is a negative correlation between organizations that allow their employees social media access and how those employees view their employer; (b) Use of social media in the workplace environment increases employee productivity and performance, and (c) social support can increase the amount workers access social media at work. It will also discuss how social media affects the interactions between workers at organizations, how they feel about their jobs, and how communication processes are affected by social media.
Private information that was previously segregated now becomes easily accessible to employers, colleagues, recruiters, and clients, among other perhaps unintended audiences” (Abril, 2012, para. 4). Yes, most social media sites attain privacy settings but one must always remember there are hiccups in everything on the internet and no guarantees leaks will not occur.
In today’s society, it is crucial for employees to understand the significance in the use of social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook. This subject will discuss the primary reasons companies allow the usage of social networking sites in the workplace. It will also explain the positive impact social media usage has in the workplace, such as allowing communication to a broader audience. In addition to the positive usage, this topic will also explore the negative implications usage can cause. Because social media is still relatively new, there are not many laws establishing the proper guidelines for these sites in the workplace. Scholarly articles such as the ‘Workplace impact of social networking” examine the effects of not establishing said policies, an error which results in an unhealthy work environment. Ultimately, employees can positively influence the workplace by using social media if they have the proper guidelines to follow.
Look past the posters in social media sites as LinkedIn and Facebook, there is a craze developing and corporations are finding themselves more so operating with social links for routine business. Many businesses are using social networks for problem resolving matters, to initiate
A growing hot topic, and cause for concern is the increasing use of social media in the workplace. The landscape for communication has changed, and the line between personal and professional communications has been blurred. How will your employer manage the risks associated with the use of social media and at the same time, gain the benefits that this media form provides? While many employers were initially concerned that employees would use company time and equipment for socializing with friends, they are quickly learning that many social networks can also be used directly for work purposes.
According to a survey report done by the Kelly services with 170,000 people from 30 different countries, 55% of all the participants believe that the use of social media for both the personal and professional posts can cause problems in the workplace (Bennett, 2012). According to a study done by the proof point, many US companies that have hired the employees more than 1000 in number face a real problem with their employees to use social media (Ostrow 2009). Almost 17% of these companies had faced serious disrepute due to the offensive comments on the social media websites (Ostrow 2009). Almost 13% of the US companies have investigated the use of personal text messages that have been found to infringe the company’s law (Ostrow 2009).
The purpose of this literary review is to enlighten my viewers of the importance of the ethical idea of companies crossing the lines of business with your personal life, when involving social media accounts. Most of my research has operated from the ATU library using the find it tool. Furthermost, the researched information use was from peer-reviewed research journal. I will discuss includes social media cons in the work environment, if it is ethical to get fired over a post, and laws that protect both parties. Social media includes an assortment of electronic communications—most commonly networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, Pinterest, Instagram, and the likes thereof. Social media also covers all forms of blogs, including Twitter (a micro-blog), wikis, online journals, diaries, personal newsletters, and World of Warfare and YouTube also are included under the umbrella term of social media (Lieber 2011).
Every day, more than a billion people worldwide use social networks. This habit has also invaded the workplaces and some research has established that four out of five employees use social networks for private purposes during working hours. Surprisingly, although this type of distraction can potentially harm the welfare of the organizations, no studies of this relationship have been made so far. In recent years, the phenomenon of social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter, is booming and occupies more space in the lives of individuals. So much so that interactions with these media are increasingly in the workplace, employers seeing the cause is often unproductive. Indeed, if a physician’s spends a lot of time surfing the Internet for personal
Skype, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook are a few popular social media sites that are used today. As a society, people no longer have to meet up face to face for a social gathering. This era of social interaction online. Not every one person shares the same common sense. However, employers should not control the lives of employees on the internet because this epoch of online communication and not everyone believes in same moral judgment.
In this Research paper I am going to discuss about the Impact of social media on organizations and business. In this paper I am going to start from the initial stage of the organizations technologies and how they are promoting their technologies and products using the different kind of forms. And how the organizations and the business are going to interact with the customers easily through the social media and also the there are negative shades along with the positive shades on the organizations. While many organizations think that they are much influenced by the impact of social media on them, as the recent studies and statics proved that. Examples of the different organizations and business which are got effected by social media are discussed in this paper. The ethical issues related to social media on organizations and business are also discussed in this paper. And the different effects and the positiveness of the social media also discussed. And the conclusion for overall impact of social media on the organizations and business are well discussed.
Furthermore, a recent study has shown that social media use by employees is costing U.S. business million of dollars each year in lost productivity.[2]
Social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook have created a new ethical dilemma for many businesses. Corporations, small businesses, and even universities are struggling create policies to manage their employees social networking behaviors. Social networking access, particularly for recruiters, can provide personal information about potential employees, which would otherwise not be available. A business must follow statutes and guidelines when disclosing information to the public. Individuals on social networking sites have no such constraints. Employees can and do make comments about their employers online. Employers can and do watch what employees post online. Any individual can send or post potentially damaging information
Social media has increasingly been on the rise for over the past 10 years, so has the concern on the effect of it being in the workplace. People are spending more and more time on social media and other communication technology (Walder). Because of this, researchers have begun to wonder what the effect will be in the workplace. The argument of social media in the workplace is on the rise, and will continue to grow as the Internet continues to transform the way people are spending their time (Carlson).
Leaking information through mobility and social network has become one of the most important damages to organization due to the leaking information by their employees. Employee’s irresponsible use of social media such as Facebook or twitter can cause damage of organization in terms of putting company’s networks under the risk of malware. The consequence for leaking information can be small as loss opportunity; also can be larger as organization’s security. For example, according to the news in 2010, “British Ministry of Defence staff has leaked secret information onto social-networking sites sixteen times in 18 months.” (Mansfield, 2010). The information leakage will both benefit the adversaries and detriment the organizations. Leaking information are not only for company, To make it worse, Facebook profiles are now available to be downloaded from torrent sites exposing more than 170 million users’ information globally (Paul, 2010).