Importance Of Social Media In The Workplace

Managing Social Media in the Workplace

Amanda F. Gambill

Middle Tennessee State University

Managing Social Media in the Workplace

While social media and computer usage has a rich history dating back to the early 1960s, the introduction of Friendster in 2002 is arguably the first movement toward social media (Goble, 2012). LinkedIn and MySpace followed in 2003, with Facebook opening its doors to the public in 2006 (Globe, 2012). With these new sites poised to continue to grow throughout the years, social media in the workplace has become a new frontier with specific challenges for administrative managers and businesses in general.

Problem

Social media in the workplace has created new barriers for administrative office managers (AOMs). Its force has impacted human resource functions, such as hiring practices, which, in turn, can have legal repercussions for business as well. Additionally, issues related to social media in the workplace has effects on the productivity of workers as well as created a new, vital requirement for AOMs to alter their policy making. These challenges must be fully understood by the administrative office manager in order to keep the workforce successful, lawful, and operational.

Purpose

The purpose of this report is for current and potential administrative office managers to understand the necessary action when considering managing social media in the workplace. By highlighting the history of social media as well as the current trends and issues with social media, administrative managers will understand the importance of the “Big Three” social networking sites, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and how they affect productivity and the legal development of policies in the workplace. The...

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...tion, when they do not follow best hiring practices and, instead, are discriminatory when reviewing social media. Ultimately, administrative managers should understand that social media is here to stay and plays an important part in the workplace.

Recommendations

Administrative office managers, as well as human resource directors, should not brush off or gloss over managing social media in the workplace. Instead, they should carefully consider the repercussions and advantages of social media in the workplace. The courses of action administrative office mangers should take after reading this report are the following: do not discriminate against employees by performing illegal “social media background checks,” do allow social media in the workplace to spark productivity, and do write a lawfully sound, detailed social media policy and train employees based on it.