Connor Milliken Professor Murphy HRM October 7, 2011 Social Networkings Affect A little over a decade ago nobody

knew what a social networking site was. Today, they are the number one most visited sites, aside from search engines. They have created a social cyberspace which allows users to interact with each other. What was once a multitude of sites to allow users to interact with friends has now become a revolutionary step in the involvement of the workplace. Social networking sites have become the most useful tools on the internet as well as being the most harmful in the workplace. The impact of networking sites today is tremendous due to how easily it can effect the work environment and the companies themselves. Social networking has some of the most beneficial tools for any company to use. It allows for the use of; Marketing Recruiting Communication Increasing reputation Help in research and development Collecting information

These are only a few of the main uses of social networking sites. Nowadays, there are ads everywhere that say, Follow us on twitter, and Join us on Facebook. One of the qualities that a site, such as Facebook, can provide is; better communication within the

work environment. This allows for a culture to begin or continue to build and grow within a workplace, which in return can benefit the company in the long run through increased productivity. Employees may also begin to work better in teams and come together as friends (not just co-workers) or even family, and can also allow them to communicate with one another, which in turn can increase productivity and effectiveness on and for team objectives/projects. With companies using networking sites as marketing tools, it enables companies by providing enhanced opportunities to gain increased reputation and enhanced marketing functions. When networking sites began to come out to the public, no company would even think about marketing on them, but now we see that most and just about all of the major companies have social networking accounts, so that they may connect with their customers, employees, and employers. Being able to connect with customers is one of the major benefits for companies because it allows for them to provide customers with special; offers, deals, and any additional notices. This gives the company more control through distributing messages out to people directly. It appears to be one of the best tools for marketing today and with over a hundred million people using networking sites it is clearly a must-needed function for all companies. By getting ads and information out there on the companies own social networking site, their reputation can continue to increase through fans, customers, and workers. With a massive reputation boost from networking sites, companies can expect: More customers Boost in sales More recognition Increased customer flow through the company building

Recruiting is another superb feature that social networking has to offer. Employers are now able to gain more control over discovering the correct candidates for the job through gathering a bit of information on them before deciding to hire somebody. It is a useful tool in this manner because the users profile usually consists of their; Age Location Likes Dislikes Personal Information Status Updates Photos Current Employment Previous Employment A loosely detailed description of their personality (using the information found from the subjects above) With this information, recruiters are able to find the best candidates for the job. Even for people looking for jobs, it is easier with these sites. Some of the networking sites only tailor to connecting for business purposes only, which allows users to find jobs that they are trying to seek. With most companies posting jobs on their own sites, it can easily be done by users trying to find the perfect job for them just by searching on those businessspecific sites. The increased reputation that companies will gain from having social networking accounts will allow them to see improved results than before. Not only will the company gain reputation, but the employees at these companies will gain reputation

as well because of the ability to link their profile with the company that employs them. As a young intern, this could be a tremendous benefit because it will get their name into the working environment and into the hands of some employers with special opportunities to offer. Since social networking sites are used worldwide, it brings the company into a global community that allows the company name to branch out to people around the globe and with this; a company can gain reputation and a possible boost in sales and other fields. Additionally, the use of networking sites can help with research and development within the company. In order to do this, the company would need to post a survey/question about a product for the audience to answer and vote on. This would give the company enough research from actual customers to know how or what to develop. With this ability of research and development online, it enables companies to grow in productivity and make easier solutions. Customers are allowed to follow companies as they post statuses on whatever they may talk about, whether it is products or management decisions; this benefits both parties because companies gain more reputation while it allows users to find out new and clear information straight from the source itself. Most importantly the greatest aspect of this new phenomenon is that it is all FREE and EASY TO USE. There couldnt be a more diverse tool that can benefit a company in more ways than one at no cost at all. The potential gain from networking sites for companies is tremendous and even with some unscrupulous traits; social networking sites have created greater opportunities and more interaction with (for nonemployees) and within (for employees) companies. After learning about how beneficial networking sites really are, because they provide more productivity; what company would not want to invest in this free and easy to use business tool!

With hundreds of millions of people connecting on networking sites there are most definitely some cons. When you ask college students what the first site they will go to once online, most will answer, Facebook. While not all students have their minds set to this site as soon as they log on, an extreme amount of people suffer due to the affects of networking sites. Being distracted easily is one of the more common causes of these sites and because of this it makes people lazier, try harder less, and forgetful. In a recent article that I found they talked about how a news reporter on the radio had been too busy on Facebook and forgot to give the news, Questions were asked and the reader said she had 'computer problems'. Further investigations by the IT team found she was on Facebook at the time. (news.com) This example just shows how lazy and forgetful people can actually be even while in the workplace. Although this is mostly due to managers not monitoring employees internet use, more people everyday gets caught up in some sort of networking site and this can sometimes interrupt more important ideas on your agenda. Another reason why networking sites can hurt more than help is because most of the information shared on the users profile is shared with the rest of the internet. This allows for easy accessibility for future employers so that they may run a thorough check on your personality. Using the information from the users profile, employers can sometimes get an idea of who they may tend to be like, which could potentially ruin that candidates chances of getting selected for the job. Especially with people who were already in a workplace when networking sites became big, it was a reason why some people would get fired or in trouble. These networking sites were so addicting and distractive that a good amount of managers and employers banned the employees from ever going on those types of sites. Since the users information is easily accessible on the

internet, it allows employers to check what their employees are up to and what they have been doing. Also, since they can see personal information employers have the right to use this as a background checking tool and most utilize it. With how much people post, especially teens and employees coming out of college, they can be thrown away as possible candidates for a new job due to the information found on their networking profile pages. Anything intolerable to employers could keep you out of a job. Since these networking sites are some of the most traveled sites, they are more apt to pick up viruses that can harm the computer, which can hurt the company directly, especially if they need to repair it or get a new one. These new security risks usually have employers banning these sites due to a possible security meltdown with a computer. Among these problems, loss of productivity is one of the worst for workplaces,
According to a study by information security consultancy Global Secure Systems and the organizers of the Infosecurity Europe trade show, the use of such sites is costing U.K. business an estimated $12.5 billion per year in terms of reduced output. Another study showed that employees spend at least 30 minutes a day visiting these sites with some employees spending up to three hours of their working day taking care of their online profile. (itworld.com)

Everyone who visits this site finds that they usually run in to one of these problems, but one problem they will always run into is the amount of bandwidth that these networking sites use, which slows down overall internet speed, and can harm companies as a whole. One of the bigger concerns with these networking sites, however, is the legal and ethical concerns. With people posting on these sites constantly, some information that may not want to get out can easily be obtained by other sources. This can give companies a bad reputation just because of a minor wall post from an employee. Ideas such as this, causes many companies to ban networking sites, such as Facebook.

In my opinion, networking sites are more of a useful tool than a hurtful one and they should be allowed in workplaces around the globe. Although people procrastinate due to these sites, if managers regulate these sites well enough then they wouldnt have a problem with people procrastinating and getting distracted. Networking sites allow for the crucial benefit towards companies of being free and easy to use. Within these sites companies can find possible candidates, gain a broader customer base and much more. The possible risks of using these sites allow for more benefits than mishaps. With most companies using these types of sites nowadays, it has brought out some companies that grew from marketing strictly on them. I feel as though if these sites provide free use of multiple tools, then why not use it as a company wide use. One possible option to keep people from getting distracted is by having them create a company profile as apart from their personal profile. This would allow for the benefit of co-workers to communicate together and not get distracted. Overall, companies gain more strengths than weaknesses from these sites and with this current information, no company should pass up the opportunity of using them as a tool. Along with providing free benefits it also allows for greater communication within the workplace. Networking sites have revolutionized the world today and have brought people and companies together globally.

APA Cited Sources

Axelsen, M. (n.d.). Business Impact of Online Social Networking. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/maxelsen/businessimpact-of-online-social-networking-presentation Carter, M. (2009, February 16). Social Networking Websites Impact Job Searches. Retrieved from http://mia-carter.suite101.com/social networking-websites-impact-job-searches-a96520 Humphries, L. (2007, January 15). The Impact of Social Networking Tools and Guidelines to Use Them. Retrieved from http://www.llrx.com/features/goodgoogle.htm Kelleher, D. (2009, February 23). Social Networking at Work: Fear Not Facebook, MySpace? Retrieved from http://www.itworld.com/internet/63062/social-networking-workfear-not-facebook-myspace MILLER, M., MCNAUGHT, M., METLIKOVEC, J., & Herald Sun. (2008, October 10). 3AW presenter misses bulletin for Facebook. Retrieved from http://www.news.com.au/technology/facebook-causes-radio-stationto-miss-news/story-e6frfro0-1111117715377