A guest post to my Newark Examiner Corporate Leadership column from the awesome Ellie Behling. She writes about Generation Y and the Workplace at www.y-rd.com.
When I log on to Twitter at work, I wonder whether I am doing something naughty or incredibly productive. That is the crux of the social networking/workplace conflict: While some workplaces scoff at or even block social networking sites, other organizations pressure and encourage workers to use social networking as a way to market the business brand. The latter group is onto something.
Social networking might take on new and better forms, but it isn’t going away. For many industries, social networking, such as the microblogging site Twitter, is the future of marketing. So it’s probably a good idea to let your employees get the hang of using them. The current form of social networking might feel slightly unprofessional at times, but that’s why social networking needs more corporate structure. Completely ignoring social networking now could cause problems for companies down the road.
Meanwhile, the workforce, from Generation Y on up through the Baby Boomers, is increasingly using social networking in their personal lives. Members of Generation Y have grown into adulthood comfortable with having both themselves and a digital projection of their identities. We go through our lives choosing just the right moments to convey digitally to the rest of the world. A workforce that includes the Millennial generation is going to have to include our digital personas too.
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1 comments:
I think letting employees twieet is a great idea, although I wouldn't want people on Twitter all day. Tweeting on behalf of the company is tricky, but crucial to monitoring the airwaves and seeing what's goin gon. Twitter is a huge PR tool, but people have to know how to use it effectively in order to maintain a quality online image.
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