Small Business Trends

54 Percent of CIOs ban Social Media At Work

Social MediaOctober 13, 2009By Lisa Barone

social media banAn interesting new study shows that social media still can’t get no respect in the workplace. According to a study by Robert Half Technologies, 54 percent of CIOs prohibit any social media use in the office. That’s a serious number.

Robert Half Technology, a leading provider of information technology (IT) professionals on a project and full-time basis, conducted phone surveys of more than 1,400 CIOs from companies across the United States who employ at least 100 employees. CIOs were asked one question:

Which of the following most closely describes your company’s policy on visiting social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, while at work?

Their responses:

Prohibited completely: 54%
Permitted for business purposes only: 19%
Permitted for limited personal use: 16%
Permitted for any type of personal use: 10%
Don’t know/no answer: 1%

I have to admit, in the age of Zappos, Comcast and Dell, I was a bit surprised to learn that more than half of CIOs have banned social media inhouse. Executive Director of Robert Half Technology Dave Willmer noted that the reason for the ban may be due to social media’s tendency to “divert employees’ attention” away from pressing work priorities in favor of communicating with friends. He’s right. It probably does to some degree. But it can also be an incredible customer retention and sales tool. And frankly, the folks misusing social media are probably the same ones checking email all day.  If that’s the reason you’re shying away from social media, you’re not competing in today’s world.

Something that also caught my eye was the division between using social media for business use vs using it for personal use. Because they’re pretty much the same thing. The goal behind social media is to make your business personal. And if you don’t understand that, you’re going about it the wrong way.

This sentiment was also noted in a post by Heidi Miller where she shows how social media isn’t about the companies. It’s about the people behind them. Comcast isn’t on Twitter. Frank Eliason is. All the Dell representatives you meet have actual names and faces. We get the tidbits of their lives right along with the company agenda. That’s what people fall in love with. It’s the people behind these companies that make them interesting and make customers engaged and want to do business with them. By trying to separate business from personal, you lose a lot of that sentiment. You take the heart out of it.

I think in the next few years, we’re going to see social media being more and more accepted into the workplace. Truth is, there’s no greater customer relations tool out there.

The survey also offered some tips for protecting your professional reputation while on social media, including:

  • Know what’s allowed
  • Use caution
  • Keep it professional
  • Stay positive
  • Polish your image
  • Monitor yourself

I think it’s about talking to employees, instilling responsibility in their words and tweets, educating them on how to use social media correctly, but then also giving them room to be human. No one is positive all the time. No one is that polished. I don’t think employers should be leashing every single one of their employees into the world of social media, but there is a solid place for it and simply banning it from the workplace is not the way to go about it. Educate; don’t lag behind.

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90 Responses to “54 Percent of CIOs ban Social Media At Work”

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  1. Anita Campbell says:
    October 13, 2009 at 9:44 am

    Here’s where I think small businesses have an advantage over larger companies.

    Usually large corporations are the ones that ban social media sites in the workplace. Small businesses less so.

    That means that small businesses are better able to use social media to reach customers. In large corporations only a few people are granted special privileges to social media sites. So it’s very hard for large businesses to truly leverage social media because their employees are not deeply integrated into the processes.

  2. Martin Lindeskog says:
    October 13, 2009 at 10:44 am

    What a great opportunity! It is time to teach the majority of CIOs about social media… ;) Who is on the next level? Do they have rules against water cooler conversations during the lunch / coffee break? How do they “prevent” that their customers are talking to other people?

  3. Amanda Collier Stillwagon says:
    October 13, 2009 at 10:51 am

    I can understand why employers would be afraid that it’s distracting employees from their jobs. However, they’re taking away the ability for the employees to promote the business itself. I think a better solution would be for the employer to designate specific people and make social media part of their job duties. It’s easier to monitor and make sure they aren’t abusing it.

  4. Robert Brady says:
    October 13, 2009 at 10:57 am

    This is really a trust issue. Big companies don’t trust their employees to use social media as a tool instead of a distraction. If this is the case you need to A)start trusting the people you have or B)hire different people that you can trust.

  5. Martin Lindeskog says:
    October 13, 2009 at 11:14 am

    Robert: “Amen” to that! Talking about trust, have you read Trust Agents by Chris Brogan & Julien Smith?

  6. Jon Severson says:
    October 13, 2009 at 3:20 pm

    Funny how horribly written this article is. And even funnier yet is the fact of how many people are blindly agreeing with the author of it and what attention it’s getting.

    It’s pretty obvious this article was written by someone who has never managed employees, owned their own company, or has any means that would give them insight into why CIO’s block Social Media. I’d actually encourage more and more to block it.

    And yes, while a handful of companies have utilized Social Media to their advantage, it’s not applicable to every company…much less every employee of that company.

    I’ve personally used very well Social Media. But I’m first and foremost a business person. This isn’t written from the standpoint of business and really should be deleted. It’s this sort of crap that causes companies more harm than good.

    I’ll challenge anyone to come up with a well thought out reason why CIO’s should say yes to allowing social media to be open to all employees in the workplace.

    Linkedin.com/in/jontoseverson

  7. Business Ideas says:
    October 13, 2009 at 3:33 pm

    This really make sense as there certainly will be an opportunity for small business.
    But i believe it’s people with an entrepreneurial mindset can see the benefits out layed here.
    This is really interesting

  8. Susan Oakes says:
    October 13, 2009 at 3:52 pm

    As social media is still quite new to many companies the stats are not really surprising. It will be interesting to compare the results in a year’s time.

  9. Jessica says:
    October 13, 2009 at 5:03 pm

    Great Info! Thanks for the post!

  10. Susan Oakes says:
    October 13, 2009 at 5:43 pm

    Sorry, I forgot to add one thing in my comment. From what I can see the survey only tells us what the policy is, not the reasons behind the policy.

    It is the reasons that provides the insights. It might be due to trust or it could because of security concerns or productivity issues etc. There could be many reasons but unless we know the detail we are assuming.

  11. Heidi Miller says:
    October 14, 2009 at 10:50 am

    Lisa–

    I agree! I remember when email first came about, and companies were jumping to ban it as well or to restrict it to “business use only.” Same thing with the telephone, fax and every other tool that has come along. Any communication tool can be abused, but it can also be used (with guidelines) to affect business and customer relations in a positive way as well.

    I think your prediction is right: we will be seeing nimble small businesses adopt social media strategies, and, slowly, we’ll see larger corporations seeing the value as well.

  12. bizsugar.com says:
    October 15, 2009 at 12:02 am

    54 Percent of CIOs ban Social Media At Work…

    An interesting new study shows that social media still can’t get no respect in the workplace. According to a study by Robert Half Technologies, 54 percent of CIOs prohibit any social media use in the office. That’s a serious number….

  13. Andee Sellman, One Sherpa says:
    October 18, 2009 at 1:36 am

    Hi Lisa,
    Thanks for the information in this post.
    It is not surprising to me given I worked as a Corporate CFO for many years before starting my own small business about ten years ago. The role of CIO seems to be to control what people can see and do within a major computer system and this is so contrary to the culture behind social media that frankly I believe many CIO’s would be tearing their hair out because they can’t control what’s going on. The only solution then is to ban it which is a pity because they’re isolating themselves from the real heart beat of an organisation which comes through in the thoughts of its employees

  14. Numbers, Volume 37 says:
    December 14, 2009 at 1:58 pm

    [...] Social Media at Work [P]hone surveys of more than 1,400 CIOs from companies across the United States who employ at least 100 employees [asked their policies on social media usage at work, saying]: [...]

  15. thinkitso blog » SOCIALLY CHALLENGED AT WORK says:
    December 27, 2009 at 1:05 pm

    [...] a “hobby.”  It’s become a vital organ of the world in which we live, work and play. However, more than half of employers across the nation have banned access to social media in the workplace. Obviously, [...]

  16. How To Torment People: 10 Steps To An ORM Crisis says:
    January 7, 2010 at 11:12 pm

    [...] and how to engage customers will only lead to responsible social media use. Instead, you should ban it in the workplace entirely. This will ensure that your company creates no human face for customers to interact with [...]

  17. Jessica says:
    October 13, 2009 at 5:13 pm

    Great Info! Thanks for the post!

    This comment was originally posted on Inc.

  18. Victor says:
    October 27, 2009 at 5:18 pm

    Wow. 54% of CIO’s ban social media. Not smart. I am trying to get my troops involved in social media. Thanks Lisa. Big fan of yours. You remind of Calvin and Hobbes. Every other tweet cracks me up and you content is always good.

    This comment was originally posted on Outspoken Media

  19. David Zemens says:
    October 27, 2009 at 5:27 pm

    A company that bans social media contact is cut from the same cloth as a company that would ban talk around the water cooler, or in the break room. All three are forms of “social media”. The most popular kind of “social media” and the subject of this post has to do with “web based” social media.

    Let’s face it, social media is really just talk. Between friends or acquaintances. The same talk that has been going on between human beings since whenever communication skills came into being.

    Burying your head in the sand and pretending that social media will go away is a recipe for disaster. I agree that social media needs to be embraced by your business and handled accordingly. Within boundaries. But ban it entirely? Bad idea.

    This comment was originally posted on Outspoken Media

  20. Lisa Barone says:
    October 27, 2009 at 5:42 pm

    Victor: Crazy number, right? It seems like the education level for social media should be far above where it currently is…but it’s really, really not. Congrats on getting your own training stared. And, uh, Calvin & Hobbes, eh? I guess I’ll take that. :p

    David: Agreed. Though this “web-based” social media can be a lot more damaging to a company than the stuff I used to let loose around the company water cooler. :) I think companies are just afraid to turn on that faucet in fear of what’s going to come out. They don’t realize there is a way to control the flow, if they take the necessary steps. Totally agree with you though. Burying your head in the sand is not only not wise, it’s dangerous. You can’t lock your kids up because you’re afraid of the world. You have to teach them how to survive and be safe.

    This comment was originally posted on Outspoken Media

  21. Victor says:
    October 27, 2009 at 7:05 pm

    Sorry. Meant to be a compliment. How many people though do you know that post a blog like this and then a picture of jack hammer rubble. Your funny!

    This comment was originally posted on Outspoken Media

  22. reiko says:
    October 27, 2009 at 9:18 pm

    In the last 2 days I have had this kind of conversation with businesses. Education and guidelines is key. Thank you for some good reference links.

    This comment was originally posted on Outspoken Media

  23. Ari B. Adler says:
    October 27, 2009 at 9:32 pm

    If you’re interested in fighting for more open social media policies at work, check out http://www.stopblocking.org. Of course, you’ll need to do this at home, since many companies now block access to it!

    This comment was originally posted on Outspoken Media

  24. Data Entry Services says:
    October 27, 2009 at 11:07 pm

    This is excellent information – especially the links to policy examples. Thanks for this!

    This comment was originally posted on Outspoken Media

  25. Yawn Webmaster! says:
    October 28, 2009 at 6:51 am

    “A company that bans social media contact is cut from the same cloth as a company that would ban talk around the water cooler, or in the break room.”

    “I think companies are just afraid to turn on that faucet in fear of what’s going to come out.”

    You are both wrong…only kidding :)

    I quote myself
    “From the time it takes to register a new user account on Facebook, to writing the first message, as little as 60 seconds can pass. It’s a testament to both the advances made in technology, and web architects ability to create easy to use globally accessible platforms. But this ease of use can also be its undoing.

    All messages sent via social media platforms are transcribed and stored on a server. A server which, as a business or organization you can’t access or control. While you can delete messages, in some cases, you have no way of knowing if the information is going be kept ad-infinitum, or whether through company mergers, it might end up in a far away land with a nondescript policy on privacy protection. Friends, colleagues and competitors can all access your information and store it locally. For Professional Communicators the ‘eternity of information’ can be problematic because while policies, practice and conventions at a business or societal level evolve over time, the Twitter Tweet, Facebook ‘post to your wall’ or forum comment can remain fixed in time. Something posted on social media might actually provide a competitor with a great publicity piece in five years time.

    While it’s true that a TV and video recorder could provide the same ‘eternity of information’, it’s social media’s ability to store, share and disseminate information that is worthy of a red flag for professional communicators.

    Key Message: Communicators should not sideline the impact that social media could have on other areas of the dissemination process. It would be a mistake to classify social media as a passing fad and not assign to it the same rigour and control as the other established communications channels.”

    The reality is there are many reasons why companies would not want to engage in Social Media Marketing.

    Personally, I don’t think every company should be using social media, and neither must they have a website. If I sell you something, it’s because you need it.

    This comment was originally posted on Outspoken Media

  26. Lisa Barone says:
    October 28, 2009 at 11:10 am

    Yawn Webmaster: Whether you want to engage in social media or not, I still think you need to educate your staff. Because chances are they WILL be engaging, whether or not they’re doing it on your hours (which they probably are). With the FTC protecting only companies who’s employees have specifically broken a stated policy…I’d probably create one.

    This comment was originally posted on Outspoken Media

  27. Matt Sullivan says:
    October 28, 2009 at 11:41 am

    I feel that these CIO’s have the attitude of “if I close my eyes, they can’t see me”. Unfortunately, there is a disconnect between the CIO’s policies and the CMO’s needs. Everyone praised Frank at Comcast for his sudden involvement with Twitter, but there is not much that has come from it 10 months later.

    My last company, Ektron, has decided to allow employees to individually represent the company in the social media space, instead of a faceless corporate account. If you Tweet a problem with the software you’ll most likely have a call from your Account Manager, and an @-reply from the CTO. Plus, there is a swarming of voices going after negative Tweets from competitors.

    The conversations are happening with, or without, your policies.

    @sully

    This comment was originally posted on Outspoken Media

  28. Matt Cheuvront says:
    October 28, 2009 at 11:46 am

    Great post and resource Lisa. I currently work for a Pediatric Therapy company as their Internet Marketing Developer and have essentialy been given the responsibility of launching everything from the ground up. I love the challenge – and part of that has been in incorporating Social Media into our marketing mix. “Thought Leadership” is one of our primary goals – and we want Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, etc) to be a resource for parents and families – both at a stand-alone level, and in pointing to other helpful resources from our site and around the web.

    The challenge is getting people on board and involved. I’m starting small and asking for some <140 character "tips" for parents, building up a library of resource info to use both now and have something that is retweet-able for the future. There are goals on the horizon for blogging, webinars, etc – but I think it's important to 1) educate – as you have laid out here and 2) take things slow – get people involved who WANT to be involved, and don't force things.

    Again, great info here. Thanks Lisa!

    This comment was originally posted on Outspoken Media

  29. Yawn Webmaster! says:
    October 28, 2009 at 2:33 pm

    You’re reading just the bare framework. the background ;)

    This comment was originally posted on Outspoken Media

  30. Nathan Hangen says:
    October 28, 2009 at 8:33 pm

    You know, this is a tough one…I work in a secure building that doesn’t allow cell phones and we don’t have access to social networks, even though we’re supposed to be using them for open source intelligence (go figure), but…that doesn’t stop me from going out to my car, grabbing my phone, and forwarding important stuff to my email.

    It’s tough to monitor social media, and if I was a CIO…I’d probably have a strict policy as well. Heck, text messages alone are productivity killers, so I can imagine how bad it could get with social media.

    I never expected to find myself on that side of the fence, but I suppose there’s a time for everything :)

    This comment was originally posted on Outspoken Media

  31. norcross says:
    October 29, 2009 at 7:45 pm

    For most companies, I completely disagree with their blocking of social networks (as I said in a post of my own), since it’s a human resources problem, not a technology problem. However, I can understand the CIO’s perspective that so many people have bad browsing habits that one bad link can open a shit-storm in their entire network.

    Also, there are some regulatory issues involved, mainly with financial firms. Sarbanes – Oxley requires that ALL personal communication done via the company resources is archived. The social networks that offer messaging functionality aren’t built in such a way that this can happen, so the only real way to be in compliance is to ban it all together.

    This comment was originally posted on Outspoken Media



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