Hypocrisy: As more companies use social media to promote their brands -- and screen prospective hires -- more also attempt to control or prevent their employees' use of the sites. Now comes a new study that more companies ban their employees from accessing social media sites at work than weapons sites. I'm the first to admit that Twitter and Facebook can be annoying. But they don't kill people. No disgruntled worker ever walked into the office and tweeted his boss to death. What this points out, once again, is that businesses -- including mainstream media -- want to do two contradictory things:
-- Harness the power of social media to access information and build business.
-- And control the message about their brand, and the use of the sites in the workplace.
You cannot take part in the dialogue and control the message. If you want to talk, you're going to get talked about. If you want to listen, you're going to hear things about yourself you don't want to hear. Go to ScanSafe's site to read more about the study mentioned above. The Web security company looks at a billion Web requests a month. I first read about the study on the social media blog Mashable, which, interestingly, didn't pick up on the weapons tie-in.
Many people are insulated from diverse political views online because of the company they keep. That was one of the main takeaways from my front-page story in Friday's Charlotte Observer on the role Facebook has played in the national debate over health-care reform. Users both for and against the Obama effort reported they believed most people on Facebook felt the way they do. And experts said this was a flaw of online political debate: As we learn to filter better, we better filter out opposing views.
If you have a cause or charity in Charlotte that you'd like to give a shoutout to, friend me and post it on my Facebook page. I'll also post your name and cause here. I'm trying to make a run at 5,000 friends before Facebook lifts that as the cap. If we can tie for the world lead, The Observer, and I suspect other media outlets, will give more attention to the charity chain and everyone's causes.
I'm writing a story about how to best use LinkedIn to rebuild your career as we
(hopefully) emerge from the recession. Please contact me if you have thoughts.
Forgive my delay in sending out my new business cards, which are very, very cool. I will mail them out ASAP, I promise.
The Observer's Twitter directory is gathering steam. To sign up, click here.
Finally, time for the video of the day. The Web can be used to blast those we disagree with and spread hatred. Or it can be used to reach out and to build tolerance and understanding. This is a moving video that does the latter. I think it will put a lump in your throat, if you open your heart to it.
You're an idiot. How is that hypocritical?
ReplyDeleteDo you know how much productivity is lost by people using social networking sites at work? What is wrong with gun sites? Do they kill people? You know what kills people? People kill people. This story is worthless.
Wonderful meaningful video. Very powerful message for those of different nationalities. Acceptance of the similarities and differences in others is a must in this world in which we live!
ReplyDeleteWait a minute, your take on the study sounds silly. Only 1 percent more ban social networking 76% than what's listed as "weapons" 75%. You make it sound like a huge difference.
ReplyDeleteMashable probably didn't pick up on the weapons tie-in because there's no real story there and they are not anti-gun crusaders.
Plus, it is not hypocrisy for these companies to do this. Social networking sites can take away a lot of productivity and time from employees. People really only bank or shop online so much. But blogging, tweeting and updating facebook, etc., would be done a lot more often. Nothing prevents employees from doing these things on their free time. Really, what makes me think that I have a right to use my company's computers and work time to update a MySpace page?
Your tabloid style headlines reeled me in, I confess, but this is exactly the opposite of what we need in journalism.
What a typical liberal reaction! Gun sites don't kill either. In fact, guns don't kill, people do. What a moron.
ReplyDeleteI love the bumper sticker, "If guns kill people, do pencils misspell words?" 'Nuff said.
ReplyDeleteAs far as social media goes, I think employers should be able to restrict the use of social media while they are clocked in and supposed to be working. After work when they are sitting in their own homes, they can tweet and do facebook all they want.
ReplyDeleteThe Video great. I am a Christian and am saddened by all the hate speech towards Muslims. I would agree that Radical Muslims spew hate and violence and tarnish Muslims worldwide, but after all, we Christians had our own terrorist hate group... the KKK.