Companies Fearful of Social Media
By Anna Johnson on August 18th, 2009A new survey by Minneapolis-based Russell Herder and Ethos Business Law reveals that many corporate executives are fearful of implementing large-scale social media initiatives in their organizations.
According to the survey results, 51 percent of executives worry that social media could be detrimental to employee productivity, while 49 percent believe that using it could damage company reputation.
Those who are not using social media on a corporate basis attribute this to concerns about confidentiality or security (40 percent), employee productivity (37 percent), or simply not knowing enough about it (51 percent).
Nevertheless, companies generally still view social networking as a key strategy, with 81 percent believing that social networking enhances relationships with customers/clients and another 81 percent believing it helps build brand reputation.
Meanwhile, the Russell Herder/Ethos study also reveals that 40 percent of companies technically block their employees from accessing social media while at work. Just 26 percent of companies use social media to further corporate objectives, and just over seven in 10 say they plan to increase the use of these new opportunities.
Despite the concerns about social media – and the awareness of its benefits – companies are not really doing much to mitigate the downside. Only a third of the companies surveyed have a policy in place to govern social media use, and only ten percent have conducted relevant employee training.
