Some Companies Prohibit Their Employees from Facebook or Twitter

Social websites have been developing rapidly and become an important part of most people’s lives. They help people enlarge a huge web of relationships, stay connected with others from all over the world, and relax hours to hours at a minimal cost. However, some companies prohibit their employees from accessing social websites for a couple of reasons. First of all, prohibiting social websites at work facilitates companies to protect from the danger of information leakage. Some users of social websites such as Face-book or Twitter usually send links to their friends to share interesting news or funny video clips. Being aware of this, hackers start to make friends with the employees using Face-book or twitter, and then send them links, which probably contain viruses or spywares. If they succeed, those hackers will be able steal all of the secret information and new business strategies of the company. It is obvious that employers do not want their company’s secret plans lost, so the banning of social websites at work is an essential measure. The next reason for banning social websites at work is to maintain company’s image. Some companies, such as service companies, have a huge number of customers transacting every day. Read also Twitter Case Study If the customers accidentally see the employee’s screens being full of his personal pictures or commenting boxes of Face-book, they are likely to think that this company is a poor-quality company which is not strict or does not know how to train their staff. They do not rely on this company anymore; therefore, this company probably loses its prestige. The image is one of the most important standards determining the company’s success; thus, prohibiting social websites is very necessary. Productivity is also a good reason for prohibiting social websites at work. Doing two things at the same time, chatting and working, makes employees be pretty much distracted. Decreasing productivity is inevitable. For example, an accountant is working on some figures, but sometimes she stops to access Face-book to chat with her friends or upload her pictures. How can she be sure of the accuracy of the figures, which requires a high level of concentration while she is busy thinking about the appearance of a new friend, such as a hot guy, or about the comments on her photos? As a result, not only her work falls behind but also the company progress is delayed. Therefore, companies prohibit social websites at work. In brief, social websites have become a popular tendency in the world day by day. However, many companies prohibit their employees from logging into Face-book or twitter because they want to prevent the risk of information leakage, to save time for work, and to obtain the best labor productivity. This is a very important and necessary policy; therefore, it probably be applied at many companies soon. If you are a Face-book or twitter addict, and on the way looking for a job, you had better think twice before accessing a social website.