Obviously if you are not doing the job you were hired for that is a problem. But if you are able to get your work done and are able to spend some time on social media sites, then you should be allowed to do so.

In this case “a lot of time” doesn’t seem to be a good metric and perhaps should have been omitted from the question.

In the scenario you are imagining, did the employee go to the employer FIRST and mention their intent to spend “a lot of time” doing something other than their job?

If not, no matter what the POSSIBLE benefit, the employee is taking it into his or her hands to not do the job they were hired to do.

It’s important to keep in mind that even if you post around 100 messages on twitter while at work, that would only take a few minutes out of your day. If one of the readers of your tweets happens to inquire about your company and eventually becomes a client, is that not worth “a lot” of time on twitter?

I receive several inquires regarding my work from people who read my twitter, blog, linkedin, etc. If I were working full time for a company and were able to pass those leads off it would be well worth my time on social media, and most people I have spoken with agree.

Now don’t get me wrong, I do agree with you that the employee should be getting his work done and should be using social media in good taste, meaning not bashing the company they work for. However the company should have just as much respect for the employee as the employee does for the company. That means not necessarily restricting an employees use of social media. All that is going to do is make the employee upset and angry and will that will lead to bigger problems.

There are a lot of companies out there that are beginning to realize how powerful social media can be in several aspects of a business, including lead gen, product development, marketing, etc. It’s quite easy and effortless to have a twitter window open to throw up a few comments.

Thanks again for the comments George. I like the debates and hope to hear from you on other posts.

The “naysayers” on this board posted at 7:10 PM and 4:12 AM – is that at work? Wow, long shifts!