The Social Media Stalemate

Earlier this week, I commented on some of the trends revealed by our WorkLife Web research. One area I didn’t touch on, however, was the insatiable demand for consumer mobile devices such as iPads and smartphones and how these are impacting on the workplace.

This ‘consumerisation of IT’ – where users bring their own devices to work – poses a number of new challenges to businesses, creating new headaches for IT security staff as they battle to secure boundaries and prevent data loss via unauthorised devices. In fact, 87% of the companies we surveyed said they are so concerned about security and data loss that it’s preventing technology adoption.

Another interesting aspect of this year’s WorkLifeWeb research is its reflection of what appears to be a growing divide between workers and management when it comes to social media use in the workplace. While 48% of managers say social media use is either allowed or encouraged, only 25% of employees agree that this is the case. This development of a social media stalemate between managers and employees is further highlighted by the fact that while 60% of companies state that they allow personal device use at work, only 40% of employees think this is the case.

There is clearly a growing tension between the two groups: one feels the need to manage, restrict and control, while the other believes it should be trusted to use technologies that can empower and enhance communications. This friction currently looks unlikely to abate. Perhaps companies should note that stricter social media policies would detrimentally affect over 40% of the workforce.

On the whole, the 2011 research indicates that companies are clamping down on new communication channels rather than embracing them. This in turn is stifling potential avenues of growth. One saving grace is that while this is happening, the research shows that businesses do recognise the important role that social media has to play. We can only assume that the clampdown is a knee jerk reaction rather than a long term trend.