Here’s a news flash from The State of the Obvious Daily: people are using their office computers for personal reasons. That’s according to a new survey commissioned by Facetime, the enterprise instant messaging provider.

Dean Takahashi of Venturebeat reports that the survey found that 79 percent of workers use Facebook, LinkIn or YouTube for business reasons, while 82 percent say they use these and other social networks and social media sites for personal reasons. (I digress, but that means 3 percent of workers claim they are surfing the web solely to benefit their employer, i.e. they are lying).

Predictably, one of the reasons that companies are reluctant to implement social media programs is because CEOs see through the corners of their eyes their employees goofing off on – er, researching – social networking platforms all day. This concern is backed up by a survey commissioned by global IT consulting firm Avanade that was picked up by ZDNet’s Sam Diaz:

“More than half of the respondents to the survey said senior executives and IT staff resist adoption out of fear it will sap worker productivity.”

This, I think, is a valid concern. But it stems from a misinterpretation of what a strategic social media program is all about and a misunderstanding of the significant impact it can have toward meeting a company’s business objectives.

A well-executed social media program is a strategic initiative that’s implemented by a defined group of people at the company who are accountable to the process and its consequences. A social media program does not consist of random Tweeting, for example. But that seems to be the perception out there.

Remember how your elementary school teacher told you not to pass notes in class, but you snuck a few anyway? There’s a little bit of “bad boy” (or girl) in all of us. We like the idea that we’re getting away with riffing random Tweets or Facebook updates while we’re on the clock. Heck, we’re even building our “personal brands” while we’re doing it. The only problem is that if your boss isn’t already tracking you on Twitter or Facebook, he or she will be soon. And they’re going to be asking: where’s the beef with that Tweet?

According to the Avanade survey, they already are. Just don’t say you haven’t been warned.

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Technorati Tags: Avanade, Facebook, Social Media, Twitter

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