How Much Time Do Your Employees Waste on Social Media?

Social media is a phenomenon that has invaded the business world in more ways than one. While it might be a great way to endorse your brand and communicate with your local prospects, it can be a huge distraction for your in-house workers. A new study by communications agency, We Are Flint, claims that 84 percent of adults in the UK use social media, and two-thirds of them use it every day--be it at the office or at home.

The provided statistics come from a report that assesses the United Kingdom’s use of social media, though we think it’s safe to say that the rest of the Western world has similar statistics.

• YouTube is the most commonly used social media site at 85 percent, while Facebook trails it at 78 percent.
• As for daily uses, people use Facebook (59 percent), WhatsApp (28 percent), and YouTube (27 percent) most commonly.
• Young people (18-29 years old) still use mostly Facebook and YouTube at 92 percent and 96 percent accordingly.

While this may not seem like such a shock, another survey from People Per Hour has shown that some workers are wasting away their workday on social media sites. Five percent of men and 11 percent of women spend over 45 minutes of every hour using social media sites while in the workplace. In particular, Facebook is a major culprit--54 percent of workers post Facebook updates from the office. Yet, despite the incredulous amount of time wasted on social media, only five percent of workers have ever received warnings regarding their use of social media at work.

So, we’d like to ask the question again. How much time does your business waste on employees using social media? Chances are that it’s a significant amount that needs to be addressed in some way, shape, or form. Ultimately, it depends on what you, as a business owner, deem to be wastes of time. Marketing personnel likely need access to social media in order to do their jobs properly, and not all employees use social media in a wasteful manner. Therefore, it comes down to identifying problematic employees who aren’t getting work done, but have plenty of time to tweet about an adorable cat video they just watched.

A content filtering solution is ideal for this purpose for multiple reasons. For one, it allows you to block access to social media on a per user basis. This means that you can designate who can access sites like Facebook and YouTube, allowing your employees to do their jobs while keeping problem employees in check. Furthermore, a content filtering solution can keep your employees from visiting dangerous websites that may try to steal sensitive information. It’s a win-win, bolstering productivity and security in one fell thrust.

To learn more about content filtering, reach out to us at 607.433.2200.