Somebody must have slipped something into the water at News Limited! After railing (1, 2) against them alongside a few fellow Aussie social media bloggers, today they have published a lead story on the benefits of using tools like Facebook at work. I’m more than happy to give credit where credit is due.
Today’s story, by Myles Wearring, looks at several Australian organisations (and Australian arms of multinationals) that are seeing benefits of using Facebook and similar tools. He says:
…employers are embracing Facebook as what they see as a valuable workplace tool, believing it can help build a sense of community amongst employees and help foster bonds with clients.
Exactly! Well said, that man.
The story also discusses the fears over time wasting and information leakage, both of which are legitimate concerns, but it does so in a balanced way quoting Flight Centre and IBM Australia as having adult, reasonable policies encouraging appropriate usage of Facebook and similar tools. This is exactly the right approach and very heartening to see.
So today, to News Limited and Myles Wearring in particular, thankyou for publishing a reasonable and balanced story on social computing (and for those of you in my network who work at News, can you let Myles know personally?).
Is Social Networking Good for the WorkPlace? - Something in the Water……
Here is a quick review from a new traditional news media article from down under that clearly demonstrates some of the business value from embracing and adopting social computing behind the firewall. Talking not only about Facebook, but any social soft…
[…] Remember the blog post I created a couple of days ago debating whether social networking tools would be costing businesses dear or not, based on a specific news article from mainstream media? Well, it looks like things may be improving a bit in this respect or, at least, in the perception from traditional media on how social media is impacting the workplace. I am not sure if you have read a follow up weblog post or not from Stephen Collins on the subject, but if you haven’t, I strongly encourage you all to have a look into Something in the water … […]