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| SAN ANSELMO, CA - JANUARY 27: In this photo illustration, the LinkedIn logo is displayed on the screen of a laptop computer on January 27, 2011 in San Anselmo, California. Social networking internet site LinkedIn Corp. filed documents with the U.S. regulators for an initial public offering. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife) |
When the social networking phenomenon began, many companies dealt with it by not dealing with it — they simply banned/blocked social networking sites on the company network. Like the U.S. government’s attempts at Prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s, that didn’t work so well. Today’s young workers have grown up with Internet access and come to the job with the expectation that they’ll have those resources at their disposal. If you deny them the ability to check their Facebook pages during lunchtime or tweet when they’re taking a coffee (or more likely, energy drink) break, they’ll find a way around it or leave to work for a company that has fewer restrictions.
