Sorry, can't work. Tweeting.

Admit it, you’ve tweeted at work before. Or checked Facebook for newly tagged photos of yourself. I’ve done it. It has become almost second nature for our generation to pull out your smartphone and share a funny picture with your followers. This all happens much to the dismay of employers. Previous employers banned the use of Internet for personal surfing, but I couldn’t resist going on Facebook in that limbo time between three and five p.m.

If you are one of the rare ones who has never surfed the Internet at work or school for personal reasons, you might want to start. According to a Socialcast study, employees who engage in workplace Internet leisure browsing, or WILB, are 9 per cent more productive than those who don’t. “Short and unobtrusive breaks, such as a quick surf of the Internet, enables the mind to rest itself, leading to a higher total net concentration for a days’ work, and as a result, increased productivity,” said Dr. Brent Coker, University of Melbourne.

These are the main reasons 54 per cent of employers ban personal Internet use:

• It’s a distraction leading to decreased productivity
• It uses up precious bandwidth
• Potential for legal liabilities
• Corporate information can be leaked
• The risk of viruses

In her post, Amanda mentioned the Cisco Connected World Technology Report and the importance of the Internet to our generation. Out of the 2,800 college students and recent graduates surveyed, 56 per cent said they would refuse to work at a company that bans social media. This not only shows the changing mindset of young professionals, but it’s evidence that companies need to be more aware of what new employees expect from them.

Here's an infographic Socialcast made from the study:

What are your thoughts? Would you turn down a job offer if the company had banned social media use? Do you find taking social media breaks increases your productivity?

The social media cloverleaf

In yesterday’s social and digital media class with Andrea Tavchar, we had a guest speaker Rob Manne from Edelman Public Relations firm discuss their approach to social media. First, Rob listed the five big changes in social media:

1. Explosion of media channels

2. We live in a multi screen world

3. Every company is a media company

4. Stories are social

5. Content lasts forever

The three things that have not changed are:

1. Time and attention are finite

2. We love a good story

3. Content is king.

Understanding what has and has not changed is crucial to the direction social media is taking. Rob offered a way to navigate the new social media ecosystem in the form of a cloverleaf.

- Traditional media
Ex. Print and broadcast

- Hybrid media
Ex. Born digital, aggregators, blogs that act like media such as the Huffington Post and the Daily Beast

-Social media
Ex. Facebook, Twitter

-Owned media
Ex. Corporate websites, mobile apps

Effective story telling spans the media cloverleaf. You need to coordinate how you want to customize a story.

Rob offered his tips on best practices for social media:

• Choose the story and the audience. Organizations need to understand their stakeholders-who they are and what they are doing

• Use the media cloverleaf to synchronize how, when and where the story should be told

• Reverberation trumps circulation: don’t always default to traditional media

• Make it findable: use search insights to shape the strategy

• Make is shareable

Keeping these tips in mind will enhance how you use social media in the organization you work for and in your personal life. Finally, Rob shared that more content is moving towards photos. Many people like to see more photos. The importance of social media in public relations cannot be underestimated. Social media allows engagement and formation of communities. It is through communities that we gain influence.

What are your tips for using social and digital media effectively?

You can follow Rob Manne @robmanne and Andrea Tavchar @andreatavchar on Twitter.