Facebook and YouTube blocked by paranoid corporations at their own peril

I've had an opportunity to casually explore the attitudes of hundreds of large and small companies whose employees attend my full-day New Rules of Marketing seminar and my keynote speeches. In my very unscientific questioning, my guess is that about 25% of companies block employee access to YouTube, Facebook, and other social networking sites.

Twenty-five percent block access!

That is a huge number of companies that are putting their organizations at a disadvantage.

I can't tell you the names of the nanny-state dinosaurs. But you'd be amazed at some of the big names that are too scared to let people into the world of social media.

One company I can talk about is on the other side. IBM is on the forefront of embracing employee use of social media (more on IBM later in this post).

If I managed a hedge fund, I'd sell short a basket of stocks of companies that block Social Media like YouTube and Facebook and buy stock in the companies (like IBM) that encourage employee use of these new tools. (Seen IBMs stock chart recently?)

Here are some reasons given by people for their companies blocking access to sites like YouTube, Facebook, and other similar sites:

- It is a drain to productivity
- It is a security issue within the company computer systems
- People may harm the company brand should employees reveal too much information
- It is a bandwidth issue

Do you trust your employees?

I think the big thing here is trust. The reasons cited above are just an excuse. If you trust your employees, they might surprise you. But if you don't trust them, over time you end up with only the corporate dregs who don't mind working in an organization that won't let them communicate with others in the ways that people are using today, like Facebook, YouTube and the like.

Ultimately, I think the HR and legal people are naive and scared and since they don't understand social media, they just slap on controls.

My friend Dianna Huff recently conducted a survey How Workers Access YouTube. She learned that two-thirds of people in companies watch YouTube videos while at work. Of those, about 40% watch YouTube videos for both business and personal reasons. However, more than 80% of people watch YouTube videos at home (sometimes that is the only way because they are blocked at work). I've had people tell me that when they find a work-related video, they need to email the link home and watch it there. Read Dianna's blog post and download her research How Workers Access YouTube for details.

Do you allow employees to have email at work?

It's been fascinating to both observe and participate in the debate about social media in the enterprise. Just like the hand-wringing over personal computers entering the workplace in the 1980s, and also echoing the Web and email debates of the 1990s, company executives seem to be getting their collective knickers in a twist about social media now. Remember when executives believed email might expose a corporation to its secrets being revealed to the outside world? Do you remember when only "important employees" were given computers and email addresses? How about when people worried about employees freely using the public Internet and all of its (gasp!) "unverified information"?

It seems silly now to forbid employees to have access to email. Yet is the exact same debate and using exactly the same language as a decade ago.

On one side of the corporate fence, the HR geniuses and the legal eagles are worried about secrets being revealed and time being wasted by their employees while using social media, creating content or commenting on social media sites. Corporate nannies want to make certain that their naive charges don’t get into trouble in the big scary world of information.

Well, duh; we're talking about people here. Employees do silly things. This debate should be centered on people, not technology.

My recommendation to organizations is simple. Have guidelines about what you can and cannot do at work, but don't try to make a specific set of social media guidelines. I'd suggest implementing corporate policies that say (for example) that employees can't sexually harass anyone, that they can't reveal secrets, they can't use inside information to trade stock or influence prices, and they shouldn't talk ill of the competition in any way or via any media. The guidelines should include email, using social media, commenting on online forums and chat rooms, and other forms of communication. Rather than focus on putting guidelines on social media (the technology), it is better to focus on guiding the way people behave.

IBM Social Computing Guidelines

IBM has developed a set of social media guidelines for employee us of blogs, wikis, social networks, virtual worlds and social media that I think are just fantastic.

From the guidelines: "Whether or not an IBMer chooses to create or participate in a blog, wiki, online social network or any other form of online publishing or discussion is his or her own decision. However, emerging online collaboration platforms are fundamentally changing the way IBMers work and engage with each other, clients and partners." GREAT. This is the way of the future. Hat tip to IBM.

My advice for bosses is to follow the IBM example.

Do you work for a company that blocks access?

If you're an employee who works for a company that blocks access, I suggest you send them this blog post and encourage them to read my other posts and my book The New Rules of Marketing & PR.

If they still refuse to open up, I suggest you quit your job and work for a company that embraces the new world. You'll need to find a new job at some point anyway, because your company won't be around in a few years as the smarter competitors take away your business by reaching buyers using social media.

Comments

[Dianna Huff]

David,

Thank you for the plug. Because I'm in B2B, I thought the results to the survey would be much different. I'm amazed at how many people watch YouTube -- for work and pleasure.

Your post brought back memories of the "old" days when the Web was new.

I remember when working on Web projects was granted only to a few -- and you had to state your case as to why you should be granted the access.

And, I remember when one person I worked with thought the Web was the "stupidest thing he had ever heard of."

Excellent post.

[harry the ASIC guy]

One more important point. It's often the CIO or the IT department that makes these decisions. And we know how willing they are to cede control and trust the employees ... NOT!

[Mordechai (Morty) Schiller]

David & Dianna,

I applaud your campaign, but I wouldn't hold my breath. I've seen companies install spyware to check what employees were doing online! (One person quit after seeing the cursor move across her screen without her control!)

Whether justifiable or not, many employers are functioning in panic mode. They feel they are under siege from the economy, competitors and even the government.

Maybe your considerable influence would be better applied trying to get Google to start a new, no-nonsense, business video channel.

Morty

[Sebastien Couture]

Or just install YourFreedom and do it from work anyway...

[Ted S]

Great post although it's unfortunate to hear so many companies are taking this stance. A few years back I worked for an organization with a similar policy -- of course employees who wanted to "slack" still had their email and other tools to kill time with while the marketing and pr teams were constantly battling to get IT to unblock site after site which were all related to the business. It shocks me how companies will kill productivity in an effort to boost productivity and never look back to see the real impact. Employees may use social sites for their own enjoyment or to engage in business practices, but either way there's a lot of positive upsides for the business out there and trying to stop people only hurts the organization. As we all know, people who don't want to work won't regardless of blocked websites.

[DaveMurr]

I don't work for a company who blocks access but I do work for a company who doesn't understand social media.

Recently I was informed by my supervisor to stop posting to my blog on our company's website because, "I was not providing quality content that our site needed." When I countered that blogging is content and the issues I was blogging were of a certain "quality", I was politely reminded that I was not an expert and we needed the experts to provide content for our site.

A month later we still don't have experts providing content.

So I was blocked from blogging on our own site.

So your post is on point with how a lot of companies view this medium and like many, it makes me laugh. Like nature the ones that adapt survive. And though I wasn't around the 1st time, I look forward to extinction of the 2nd round of dinosaurs.

[Gilad Langer]

I believe that you have touched on a deeper issue and that is leadership. Trust is certainly part of it and too many companies lack this elusive concept, at least in my experience. Other important attributes are motivating, mentoring, guiding, etc. Using all of these one can only imagine how employees can bring value to a company using social media, and other tools of "the new rules".

I am an avid reader, keep it up and thanks for enlightening us all.
- Gilad

[Bill Gammell]

It could be that blocking these social media sites is just the tip of the "distrust" iceberg. If you're company is blocking these sites, what else are the doing?

I know of companies that not only block certain sites, they monitor telephone and email conversations and make salaried employees clock in and out. It all boils down to trust.

Remember, technology doesn't kill time, people do.

[michael lamb]

The tools are just there, but come on, it's Soooooo easy for employees to waste hours and hours checking FB feeds regularly and spending more time online than doing work. This adds to management issues - more oversight required, more motivational techniques. This is great and fun for big companies like IBM, but this is a small company killer.

People are PAID to work. They are not paid to waste hours vampire biting their friends. I think employees need to start looking a little less at "entitlement" and a bit more about being productive. I don't believe in banning the sites but you can't dismiss that many, many people are addicted to socializing online and spend way too many paid onsite hours doing unproductive work because the internet is SO easy - you can do it without any seeing (unlike if you're spending hours at the water cooler - everyone can see you're not at your desk) or hours on the phone chatting with friends. The internet is solitary and easily hidden where a user can "look" productive but is really super poking people. Dismissing that outright and calling companies trying to control this lost productivity is irresponsible.

[David Meerman Scott]

Thanks for the comment Michael,

While I agree with some of what you're saying, I think it is a management issue, not a technology issue.

If people mess around at work, it doesn't really matter if it is on Facebook, or chatting by the water cooler, or taking a three hour "shopping lunch". It's all the same - people not doing what they've been paid to do.

I would deal with the behavior. If required, fire the employee who is not working.

Take care, David

[michael lamb]

I agree it's *partly* a management issue. My point is more that the layers of management in large companies can afford this. Small companies have a more difficult time. I also think it's very important to acknowledge that taking long lunches, chatting by the water cooler are all noticeable things (meaning: management and other employees can see that an employee is doing this behavior and there can also be some peer pressure and ostracizing corrections done internally by social norms - rather than laying the entire burden on management's shoulders). Wasteful time online is a lot more difficult to catch and monitor becuase of its solitary/hidden nature. I think social networking and using technology tools is great. I also think that mis-use by employees is a bigger issue, espeically for smaller companies, than simply saying they should trust employees and let them do whatever they want on youtube/ facebook / myspace etc.

[Ed]

Interesting Post.

For such an old school company IBM has been in the forefront of social networking. They were one of the first companies to have a blogging policy, encourage key influencers to blog and in some areas on their web site even put the managers name, picture and phone number so you can get in contact with a person..a novel concept in this day and age.

While we love to talk about the great things that can happen with social media and how we as marketing professionals “MUST" use social media to open up the conversation , we fail to remember that social media is only successful if the company culture is open to having a conversation.

Ask yourself how many management boards would be comfortable in having people rank their products in a online community. The answer is not a lot. Until management understands that new employee and customer uses face book, YouTube, and IM to communicate and no longer uses excel, word, or power point we will continue to have these gaps in culture and understanding.
Before a company can really leverage social media they must have the culture of conversation. Just look at SUN Micro Systems. Their CEO is Mr. Social Media. It starts at the top.

[Jenn]

It is interesting that most corporate digital policies do not discuss the use of personal mobile devices in the workplace.

A few years ago, people were definitely more tethered to their laptop/desktop than they are today. The employee, who may be blocked from using the corporate network to surf the web, can now easily surf the web from their mobile appliance.

Companies who are discouraging web use - that could be monitored - are overlooking what can be done on a personal device.

[Lorenz Gude]

I'm an American who has lived half my life in Australia. Generally, Aussies are initially technophobic as are our companies and government departments. When they get it, there is no stopping them. I first noticed this teaching computing in a university in the 80s. Skeptical resistance then enthusiasm. Later I watched Aussies worry about email in the workplace etc. While there is no stopping Aussies love affair with computing, they are a more structured society especially in the workplace. Telecommuting is not as common as the US (trust is the issue) and web surfing rules in the workplace are tighter from what I hear anecdotally. For example, I don't know of any Aussie soldiers blogging while it is common with American soldiers. While there are plenty of Australians using social media I found myself selling it to a 30 something engineer with an MBA over dinner recently. What I observe as an expatriate is that Americans don't see how open to innovation they are culturally. That means, in part, that we adapt quickly to new media environments. I found your post through a link in a Plurk from my daughter in law in South Florida who uses Social Media at work and personally.

[Corona]

facebook is horrible, I honestly wish it never excisted. Speaking on behalf of teenage culture, it gives them a stronger view of conformity. Don;t you miss the days when you weren't completely exposed ? when you didn't have to brouadcast yourself in the way that you would like others to see you by taking good pictures and pretending that you are famous ? people in the days that were prefacebook survied fine socially and in my personal opinion, expirienced less pressure and more curiousity and more personal relationships with the people that they were actually interested in having relationships with, instead of the massive web of people in their lives dating down to elementay school (some that they don't even want to know or see again). We are basically giving people permission to act nosey and look into our lives, which can be enjoyable but is seriously a waste of time if you think about it. FACEBOOK SUCKS !!! and I know that I sound selfrightous,annoying,and antisocial, but I have had facebook for quite a while and have begin to realise that it has only made me more insecure and addicted to something so empty.I;m so tired of this and need to express my opinion. If you think about, facebook is manly a teenage glorified website, and my generation are getting worse in terms of being self absorbed and basing life on ignorant gossip. well, if anyone sees this and remotely understands, comments are appreciated :)

[Tom]

I believe people slack off in a slacky environment.

In an environment of accountability, commitment and discipline, people join the company and pick up the company's energy of contribution. They may spend a few moments to check emails or read blogs, but the high-expectation culture motivates them to do their work.

And by work I don't mean merely filling up hours. What counts is what we put into those hours.

In a company where employees slack off, the top folks are slaking off big big time. And through their behaviour they create a slack off culture. The employees are just following the example set my management.

[David Meerman Scott]

Well said, Tom. I agree.

[Jean-Julius Joseph Vernal]

Tell Paranoid corporation, they are in big trouble at their own peril ;)

Signed
Jean-Julius Joseph
006597352075

[Amber]

David-

Thanks for commenting on my post. I was amazed and still curious about how you found my blog, but I guess that's the power of social media. I do agree that companies should embrace social media and not block internet access. However, what suggestions to do you have for changing their minds? If I wanted to promote less internet blockage and try to convince a company that social media is truly an important part of a business, what are the beginning steps?

[David Meerman Scott]

Amber, I have Google alerts that tell me if my name or the title of my book has been used in a blog post.

This post and the many thoughtful comments to it lay out a good argument for social media.

Companies need to be communicating in the ways that people are using. With millions involved in social media and everyone using search engines, that's an important way to reach people. If you don't, you're missing out on potential customers....

[Michael]

I know companies pay us to work. But really, when trillions of taxpayer dollars can simply disappear, it makes us all wonder what the heck we're working so hard for?

Give us 20 hour work weeks and you can bet that those 20 hours will be productive. This is all about maintaining the status quo. The internet threatens the status quo, so the old white guys want to control it. Period.

[Yasir Malik]

help me to unblock the facebook