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In 2009, more than 50% of US employers blocked social media use, and 8% have even fired staff over social media misuse. Companies are treading carefully on social media use, by limiting the number of “tweeters” are allowed to tweet for the company (Telus for example), while others have completely banned social media and even personal emails (HSBC for example). Here are the top 3 reasons why your company is blocking social media:

1. Kids say the darndest things, and so do employees. I admit, this is very true. An example of such things said/done on social media is during the Domino Pizza crisis where two employees created a pizza with mucus and boogers, “fake delivered” it, and posted the video on YouTube. Darned. But on a closer look, the social media crisis would have occurred regardless of blocking social media outlets. The employees could have uploaded their YouTube video at home (which I think they did) and not during work hours. If somebody has something they wanted to say, they’d just as easily and likely do it while at home. Domino’s later figured that it was essential for them to start a Twitter account to address the issue, as the majority of complaints were via social media.

2. Productivity suffers. A University of Melbourne study shows that social networking in the workplace actually increases productivity. I admit, I check Facebook on an almost hourly basis at work (which is luckily part of my job description)! In addition, if your employee wasn’t checking social media online, they’d probably be Google-ing something else or taking a nap on the toilet. A lazy employee is a lazy employee, with, or without social media.

3. Social networks are dangerous and consume bandwidth. Yes, social media consumes bandwidth, but so does emailing – we still do it. Printing consumes ink and paper – we still do it. Social media? We should still do it. It’s cheaper than printing and can get your message across just as effectively as emailing.

And besides the point that I could ramble off with a dozen points on why your company should find value on being active in social media, there’s really one that blows the rest out of the water:

There’s a conversation on social media – quite possibly about you – and you’ll have no way of engaging in it or defending yourself in it without being in social media yourself.