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Social networking sites can benefit business and censorship is the wrong approach, says analyst firm

Gartner is urging businesses not to ban social networking applications like Facebook and Twitter from the workplace despite concerns about time-wasting employees.

The analyst firm said companies should recognise not just the risks but the opportunities that such networks can bring, whether social (Facebook), professional (LinkedIn) or in-house employee networks.

However despite a survey by social network provider Huddle finding that a third of public sector workers want access to Facebook, 56% of employees are banned from such sites. A further 38% said they saw value in a government-wide social network operating across all departments.

Gartner’s managing vice president Anthony Bradley said companies should develop “trust models”: policies specific to each organisation.

“The trust model helps organisations to understand the characteristics of a particular community and its likely behaviours, which, in turn, illuminate the behaviour opportunities and risks that influence participation in policy formation,” he said.

While the respected analyst firm endorses enterprise social networking as vital to the competitiveness of large enterprises in the near future, it highlighted several areas of concern for businesses, including copyright infringement, brand representation and inappropriate behaviour.

Analyst Nikos Drakos said companies need to find “an appropriate balance between freedom and control” when developing a usage policy, which “must be tuned continuously” as the concept evolves.

Further reading

Social networking within the enterprise
Business use of social networking is fuelling a revolution in collaboration

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