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?).
