With internet usage increasing every day, the question of acceptable social network usage in a workplace environment is something that is becoming increasingly common, especially amongst the so-called internet generation.
This would seem to be because this group of people seem to want to be constantly connected to the outside world, which only became possible around the 1990's when mobile phone technology started to become widely available throughout the world.
Whether or not social networking is a distraction depends largely on what type of job you are actually doing and the percentage of the time that you are dealing with the general public.
It also depends largely on how much information you can handle at the same time.
For example, it would be highly inappropriate to be using such a site on a mobile phone whilst in a retail position serving customers, whilst using such sites in an office environment, providing you are not dealing with clients at the time, is far more likely to be acceptable.
Also, there are some jobs in which visiting social networks is actually a part of the job description and therefore not only acceptable, but part of your work.
Such jobs usually include online marketing positions, which is something to think about if you have a good knowledge of the online world.
However, even in an office environment, you would need to have some common sense to ensure that you completed any work that needed to be done, should you choose to use such sites in the workplace.
This is especially true if you are logged in to any sort of instant messaging service, as messages can pop-up at any time in this situation.
However, if you do decide to use social networking sites, whether in or out of work, it is becoming more important than ever to be careful what you say, especially if you have any information on profile pages indicating where you work.
This is because if you have workplace information on social networking sites, people can sometimes see comments as coming from a representative of a company, rather than you as an individual.
Finally, some companies now have policies on acceptable internet usage, so if you wish to use the internet for recreational purposes, including visiting social networking sites, it would be a wise to double check any such policies in advance, otherwise you could be faced with problems at a later time.
This would seem to be because this group of people seem to want to be constantly connected to the outside world, which only became possible around the 1990's when mobile phone technology started to become widely available throughout the world.
Whether or not social networking is a distraction depends largely on what type of job you are actually doing and the percentage of the time that you are dealing with the general public.
It also depends largely on how much information you can handle at the same time.
For example, it would be highly inappropriate to be using such a site on a mobile phone whilst in a retail position serving customers, whilst using such sites in an office environment, providing you are not dealing with clients at the time, is far more likely to be acceptable.
Also, there are some jobs in which visiting social networks is actually a part of the job description and therefore not only acceptable, but part of your work.
Such jobs usually include online marketing positions, which is something to think about if you have a good knowledge of the online world.
However, even in an office environment, you would need to have some common sense to ensure that you completed any work that needed to be done, should you choose to use such sites in the workplace.
This is especially true if you are logged in to any sort of instant messaging service, as messages can pop-up at any time in this situation.
However, if you do decide to use social networking sites, whether in or out of work, it is becoming more important than ever to be careful what you say, especially if you have any information on profile pages indicating where you work.
This is because if you have workplace information on social networking sites, people can sometimes see comments as coming from a representative of a company, rather than you as an individual.
Finally, some companies now have policies on acceptable internet usage, so if you wish to use the internet for recreational purposes, including visiting social networking sites, it would be a wise to double check any such policies in advance, otherwise you could be faced with problems at a later time.
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