The impact of social networking in the workplace on every aspect of life is being assessed today. Whether it be family relations, cultural barriers or workplace, social media has influenced each one of these settings. Furthermore, relationships today are determined by the social media presence of an individual. Therefore, its impact on employees and the company as a whole is also a significant topic to discuss and demands considerable attention. Long-term goals for a company are one of its priorities, and improper planning regarding social media usage may ultimately lead to under-achievement.
While there is a long list of advantages of social media for office purposes, the story does not end there. Then comes the list of disadvantages that can be deemed quite negative from the company’s point of view. First of all, use of social media in workplace adversely affects employee productivity. As per a study, companies that permit the use of Facebook in office end up losing 1.5 percent of the normal level of productivity (Zeiger). This is because Facebook offers a huge distraction to an individual. Continuous status updates from friends, event attendance pictures, game updates and the like keep an individual engrossed unknowingly. The employee may end up missing a deadline just because of spending excess time messaging with a friend on Facebook.
Another very common problem posed by the usage of social media in the workplace is the deterioration of employee relations. Instead of spending time with colleagues, employees start to check their Snapchat story or Twitter account. The loss of interaction may eventually spell doom for the company as this will automatically cause a decline in coordination levels between employees. On the other hand, employees may also have the option to talk to each other without anyone eavesdropping on their conversation by the use of social media. This will result in excessive “off-task” conversation, which is again harmful to the company as a whole (Zeiger).
Allowing use of social media in the workplace may also tarnish the company’s image if something negative about the company is shared by an employee. Given the fact that any post on social media spreads like fire, this may be extremely harmful to a company’s reputation. While the employee may share the same post after going home, the fact that an individual may end up posting something inappropriate in the heat of the moment is more necessary to cater for, and that can be done by prohibiting the use of social media in the workplace.
Lastly, use of social media in the workplace may also cause employees to take stress about situations that are completely irrelevant to office work. Being constantly updated entails knowing about every unfortunate event as it happens, and, therefore, it may lead to an increase in stress not directly related to work but still counted as work stress. This is also one of the primary reasons why the methods of reducing work stress fail to work, as such factors are not taken into consideration.
In a bird’s eye view, while there may be advantages to social media use in the workplace, the list of disadvantages is also not small either. Employee productivity is definitely harmed, and the company’s image also becomes vulnerable. Moreover, employee relations suffer due to lack of personal interaction. Therefore, every company needs to undertake a cost-benefit analysis before giving the imprimatur for social media usage in the workplace.
Reference
Zeiger, Stacy. (n.d.). The Disadvantages of Social Networking in the Workplace. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/disadvantages-social-networking-workplace-21064.html
