- Productivity. This was briefly mentioned above but the reality is you can quickly get lost in FaceBook where minutes turn into hours and all of a sudden your work just doesn’t get done. Remember you are at work for a paycheck, but the company pays you to do your job not to keep up with relatives that are miles away.
- Malicious Malware. Social networks today are known for malicious malware from spyware to viruses. When it comes to these threats, a business network can be a gold mine to hackers, costing an organization millions. This can be a real headache for system administrators and eventually the whole company.
- Illegal Content. Facebook isn’t known for the cleanest of content. In fact, part of what makes it so much fun is that you can say just about anything you want to there (whether you should or shouldn’t). This can lead to all kinds of problems in the workplace and can easily offend the other employees.
- Discrimination. Unfortunately, discrimination is still prominent in the world and therefore on FaceBook. While that may be just distasteful in the comfort of your own home it can lead to very real discrimination and harassment lawsuits that the company just doesn’t want to deal with.
- Illicit Images. Okay we aren’t necessarily talking about all-out porn though that could exist. We are also talking about that picture that your friend took last night after having a little too much to drink and felt like flashing the camera. Hey, we’ve all been there…
- Network Use. While most networks have tons of bandwidth, there is no reason to let the network get bogged down in any way with content that is not work related. You never know what may be posted on FaceBook nor how much bandwidth it might take to show those flip videos.
- Employees Are Paid To Work. Sorry if it seems repetitive but it’s really important to point out that you are paid to work and unless you are in social media yourself, not to be on FaceBook.
- Time Consuming Activity. I have spent literally hours on FaceBook playing games and/or tracing down all of my high school classmates. There is just so much there that is interesting that before you know it you have shot a whole day.
- Confidentiality. Confidentiality is an extremely high priority issue within any organization in all industries. Especially when it comes to HIPAA within health care organizations, there are tough measures that must be taken to ensure that confidentiality is upheld at all times. Getting on social networks like Facebook could definitely lead to information from work ending up on the net.
- Networking Between Companies. When you employ people, you are competing with other companies. You definitely don’t want your employees on Facebook networking between companies, sharing information and giving away all your secrets. Even if this isn’t going on while the employee is on Facebook, it is a risk that you shouldn’t have to deal with.
My take:
People can waste time without FB.
Malware can be found anywhere and clicked on through various sites.
Illegal content? I bet Victoria's Secret is blocked at your workplace too.
I don't even understand the point on discrimination.
Number 5 is number 3 all over again.
Network use... how about the use of the time around the water-cooler? How about we just chain people to their desks!
7 is number 1 all over again.
8 is number 7 and 1.
If you're worried about confidentiality either hire professional people or literally gag them and go through their mail.
10 is a problem with LinkedIn... or anyone with a thumb drive... or anyone who's ever belonged to a country club.
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The ignorance in this article reminds me of this amateur high school reporter writing on why women don't need to go to college.
