TGIF on Facebook

What do you do on a Friday evening? Visit your friends? Yes - according to research by Buddy Media Friday evening is the time when most people visit their friends, and do a bit of shopping - on Facebook that is. Commercial Facebook use is up by 18% on Friday evening. During normal work hours commercial messages via Twitter and Facebook receive less attention. I wonder why this is news actually - it seems a no-brainer. Especially when your supervisor is one of your virtual 'friends', you should be careful not to use social media during work hours. Big Brother may be watching you, and use it against you. And she would be right to do so as well, at least according to a study by IT research company Nucleus Research, which shows that companies that allow users to access Facebook in the workplace lose an average of 1.5% in total employee productivity. The survey of 237 employees also showed that 77% of workers who have a Facebook account use it during work hours. Interestingly enough some studies show the opposite to be true. A University of Melbourne study shows that as many as 9% workers who indulge in such (Facebook or Twitter) activity have better productivity than those who don’t. The study involved 300 workers and 70% of those engaged in workplace Internet leisure browsing. It’s author, Brent Coker stated: 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. So a bit of couch potato surfing on Facebook is the new smoke break, which is great news for the non-smokers among us.