LinkedIn or LockedOut?
When I come home in the evenings, I am greeted by my little boy Isaac crawling toward the door. It is precious. My wife Rachael takes a break from “myspacing” as she calls it, looks up, and asks the quintessential “how was your day?”
“Myspacing?” I have resisted myspace for many reasons, most notably the high doses of Excedrin I have to consume to tolerate the myriad visual phenomena that is a profile page.
However, seeing how it has captivated my wife and hearing the stories of her reuniting with college and previous work friends captured my attention as I know the power of networking and relationships over time.
So, I finally gave in and have signed up for Myspace LinkedIn & Facebook and have found similar joys to Rachael.
What I have always loved about the Internet is how interrupting it is. People innovate in even small ways and the pervasive nature and reach of the web push this innovation — with all the change it requires — to the masses.
So, these innovations — called social networking sites — are causing problems now too. Apparently people can’t stay away from them. And maybe for good reason. Wherever there are people meeting and growing relationships, the business of life and commerce happens.
A recent News.com article says 50% of businesses are blocking access to LinkedIn, Myspace and others on grounds of malware but also productivity loss.
Is it blocked at your office? Should it be? If your boss asked you how you are using it in your work, what would you say? (you don’t have to leave your real name. =-)
–jc
Jacob
No doubt social networking sites can cut productivity if your employees are MySpacing all day. But there’s a lot of untapped power in these sites that very few businesses have explored.
If a company somehow used a social network as an extension of a company blog, with employees and customers encouraged to speak honestly, it could open the door for a lot of potential learning and innovation.
A business could use FaceBook or MySpace to informally publicize meetings and events, as long as they’re not sensitive. In the case of a new product launch or change, you could essentially have a free focus group.
What about sales staff using one of these sites as a tool to reach prospective clients?
len20
I agree with Jacob. This is where people are, and business that are seeking to gain new customers have to have employees that know how to hang out in the virtual world.
For the record, my non-profit company does not lock us out of those sites.