Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Pinterest. Tumblr. The time has come for companies to embrace them instead of push them away. I’m not talking 
about using them for business purposes, I’m talking about implementing an HR policy that these must be used. Right about now most of you are saying, “Those have been proven to be time wasters in the workplace, terrible idea!” Well, you’re absolutely right. They do tend to waste a little bit of time, but they also spark collaboration and creativity. At the end of the day, that’s a tradeoff that I’m willing to make. Take a little wasted time for increased collaboration, and you should see an increase in productivity.
Facebook: This platform will need to be monitored the most, since it’s solely personal. Yeah, people follow some companies, but most of the updates you get on Facebook are about some person who you talked to once 5 years ago and their new puppy (which, not going to lie, is pretty entertaining to look at. I mean who doesn’t like a puppy.) The main reason Facebook should be implemented as a policy in the workplace is to increase team chemistry. Create a company group and let employees share articles and videos that they find interesting. Not only will this help employees get to know each other, it also has a chance to spark some creativity in your products.
Twitter: If any of your employees aren’t on Twitter, get up right now and go make them. Seriously…go! Okay so now that you have everyone signed up for it, let’s discuss the benefits. Unlike Facebook, some really quality content and ideas get passed around via twitter. The even greater thing about Twitter is that you can set up different accounts for personal and business use. So your business account should pretty much solely be following accounts like Ad Age and even businesses like The Tie Bar. There’s two benefits here, 1) Ad Age and other accounts like it spread quality articles in business that could possibly help your company with the ideas discussed. 2) You can see some top notch marketing campaigns of other companies and take note. Ultimately, the benefits of Twitter outweigh the pitfalls by an absurd amount. I’d join the “Twitterverse” ASAP if I were you.
Instagram and Tumblr: I combined these because they have the similar quality of drawing the user’s attention in by a picture. The key difference is that Tumblr can be used a little easier by companies than Instagram. While both are used as visual media, Tumblr can be coupled with a detailed article about the product. Following certain companies can give an insight in to creative ideas to market products. Instagram can act like Facebook as a teambuilding site. You can even give little assignments to your employees like take a picture of the most interesting thing you see this week. Both can translate into higher production and fresh ideas.
Pinterest: Pinterest is kind of uncharted territory, and the verdict is yet to be out on office use. I’m going to say try it out still. A lot of creative purposes can arise from use of this platform, but it can also lead to some very off track ideas. Use with caution and maybe on a trial period.
Social Media has a negative stigma in the workplace. They’re seen as time wasting and not productive. However, they have some very beneficial properties to team building, collaboration, and creativity purposes. Twitter is definitely a must have in the workplace, especially if you set up specific accounts to follow and regulate it to only those. In fact, Cornell did a study proving that it is. The time has come to embrace these platforms instead of pushing them away, and I think most of you will see some benefits coming your way.
Scott McGinty
Latest posts by Scott McGinty (see all)
- Making Social Media a Policy - April 25, 2013
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