June 27, 2011
Despite the increased worldwide usage of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, the majority of UK employees have not been provided with clear guidance on using such sites in the workplace.
According to a new study from Protiviti Inc., a business consulting and internal audit firm, of those with access to social media sites in the workplace, almost 39% indicated that there is no policy in place regarding usage and a further 24% are unaware of any such policies.
More than half (51%) of workers surveyed use social networking sites whilst at work, with more than 5% do so several times an hour.
As a result, Protiviti has warned that companies without adequate social media policies are placing themselves at risk of security breaches and damage to their public reputation.
“The global social media landscape has changed so dramatically and so quickly that many companies are struggling to keep up,” said Jonathan Wyatt, Managing Director at Protiviti UK.
“We recommend that companies have very clear policies targeted at issues specific to social networking. For instance, they should consider providing guidelines regarding the sharing on Facebook of photographs from corporate events and measures to mitigate potential accusations of favouritism resulting from a senior manager ‘linking’ to one employee but not to another.
"Likewise, guidance should be provided as to when a blog might be perceived to be a corporate forum. Such guidance should take into account the fact that personal blogs can also possibly damage the company’s brand.”
