PEW is out with a new study giving us some great insights into how people are using social media at work.
"The new Pew Research Center survey finds that social media plays some role in the lives of many American workers – but that role is not always clear-cut or entirely positive."
Quoting from the report:
Workers turn to social media for a range of reasons while at work, with taking a mental break being among the most common.
34% use social media while at work to take a mental break from their job
27% to connect with friends and family while at work
24% to make or support professional connections
20% to get information that helps them solve problems at work
17% to build or strengthen personal relationships with coworkers
17% to learn about someone they work with
12% to ask work-related questions of people outside their organization
12% to ask such questions of people inside their organization
Some 14% of workers have found information on social media that has improved their professional opinion of a colleague; at the same time, a similar share (16%) have found information on social media that has lowered their professional opinion of a colleague.
Many employers now have rules for how employees use social media at work.
Policies that regulate how employers present themselves online outside of work may be expected to influence whether these workers use social media at all. However, this does not seem to be the case: Fully 77% of workers report using social media regardless of whether their employer has such a policy in place.
