Social networks: friend or foe?

The right social networking can be free marketing for your organisation.

When you employ someone from Generation Y, they come complete with an entire social network and an expectation to be able to access it. That’s not to say Gen-Y types are the only users of social networks, but they are by far the most connected and prolific. So, what should your organisation be thinking about?

On the face of it, employee use of social networking sites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. carries a direct cost in terms of bandwidth and productivity. For that reason alone many companies frown upon their use, but I believe the real exposure is the potentially (negative) impact on your organisation if managed poorly.

Facebook and Twitter have grown to become two of the most prevalent social networks. My experience is that the average Gen-Y Facebook user has a staggering 250-plus ‘friends’ and, if they use Twitter, are followed by 140-plus people. These friends and followers are a mix of personal friends, work colleagues and people in similar industries or with similar interests – and I’ve seen a growing number of clients and suppliers making up numbers recently. That’s a huge connected audience! It’s a social network to which very few employees would be game enough to send a mass email entitled ‘I hate my boss’ or ‘Check out this video of me drunk at the Christmas party’. Yet, in the world of social networking, that is exactly what is happening. And people are watching.

So, how do you stop it? Well, you can’t. The traditional approach by corporate IT has always been to block or restrict access to websites classed as nuisance. While this is effective for controlling activities like TradeMe or YouTube use during work hours, it does nothing to address the real issues when it comes to social networking. If you block Facebook or Twitter at work, employees will simply use them at home instead; also of note is the growing number of people who interact with social networks via mobile handheld devices (almost 50% according to some sources). By blocking access to social networks in the workplace you’re only moving the target, not addressing the issue – exposure.

Rather than try to block employee use of social networks, I would suggest your organisation embraces it; social networking is not in itself a bad thing. Twitter can be a tremendous resource for gaining valuable insight into what people really think of your company and its products. And it can also afford you a window into what people think of your competitors. When used properly, both Twitter and Facebook have proved themselves to be extremely effective tools for rich customer engagement, as well as very cheap vehicles for promotion.

I believe there are three basic steps to minimising any potential negative exposure on social networks:

Step 1: Define your organisation’s relationship to social networks.

This is critical. It would be foolhardy for any business not to consider the benefits they may gain from social networking, but the real importance in defining this relationship is to have a clear stance that is communicated to all staff.

Within social networks your staff are your ambassadors and spokespeople. If they know talking about certain issues is not acceptable, they will refrain. Conversely, if they know your company embraces talk about new products and services, I think you could be surprised how quickly word travels.

Step 2: Have policy in place.

All companies should have a non-disclosure agreement and an Acceptable Internet Usage Policy that covers the issues around social networking. These need not be 200-page draconian decrees, but instead brief, clear guidelines to cover the organisation legally should problems occur – ours are only one page long and I’m happy to share them with you.

Step 3: Educate your staff; all of them.

The more aware your staff are of the potential issues around social networking, the less likely they are to find themselves causing a problem. You may also like to highlight that employers are increasingly turning to social network profiles and activity when screening new employees.

Social networking is here to stay and very powerful. Are you ready?