This has been a hot topic of late, with coverage in a lot of mainstream media. There are two trains of thought: First that Facebook is a waste of company time and should be blocked and second that employees are increasingly demanding access to social networking sites and may leave to find a job that will allow them to browse what they want whilst at work. So what should you do in your workplace?
Social Networking is on the rise, no matter which way you look at it. Facebook and MySpace both boast over 100 million users and are growing at a rapid pace. Add in sites like YouTube, Bebo and Orkut and you have a good share of the most visited websites in the world. The alarming thing for business owners is the amount of time users spend on social networking sites. As these sites encourage interaction between users, people are spending more and more time doing just that! With the majority of businesses having Internet access for employees, the temptation to get off topic at work has never been greater.
Last year Facebook was suggested as a $5b Waste of Time in an article by The Sydney Morning Herald. Whilst these claims may be over the top, there is certainly a cost associated with employees socialising rather than working.
So why would you want to allow these sites? Well in time you may not have a choice! Legal firm Deacons found in their Social Networking Survey 2008 that half of the respondents surveyed would refuse to work for an employer that blocked access to social networking sites. 76% of the respondents said that they see benefits to their organisation from allowing social networking sites. With current labour shortages and an increasing difficulty in employers finding good staff, the decision may already be made for you.
Let’s assume however, you don’t want to be forced into allowing your staff access to these sites, could they 
actually benefit your business? Well according to NASA, quite possibly! As of May 2008, NASA are trialling SocialCast, a business themed social network. SocialCast aims to take the interaction between users of these sites and put it to use in business. By allowing the exchange of ideas, comments and suggestions over your businesses SocialCast website, your users are participating in social networking and working!
Another popular business themed social network is LinkedIn, which has seem high 
adoption amongst mid level management and higher in many large corporations throughout the world. LinkedIn allows people to network or make contact with other professionals in their field and is now seen as an excellent recruitment service.
So whilst your business may not yet be ready for a move to a service like SocialCast, blocking your staff completely from social networking sites may require some more thought. With staff the biggest asset of any business, can you afford not to listen to them?