Should social networking sites be banned in offices & colleges?

[The_Big_K]

CEans,

There are 1000s of social networking websites around. I personally know at least 20 persons who spend most of their online time making friends and connecting with people around the world. Some use social networking sites for professional reasons while most use them to make friends.

I've seen many companies banning access to social networking sites such as Orkut, Facebook, Hi5 & others. What is your take on this?

Do you think social networking sites should be freely allowed in offices & colleges? Or should they be banned?

Shout!

[MaRo]

Big Yes, 90% of people go these sites JUST wasting time install/unistall applications.

btw, I HATE Facebook

[Elisa]

I had created an account on Hi5. I don't use it anymore. I think social networking sites do affect productivity of the office staff. It's been banned in my office and I think it was a wise decision of the senior management to ban the social networking sites.

[kidakaka]

No, they should not be. There are literally thousands of people who USE these sites to WORK . Believe it or not folks!!

Sites like LinkedIn, where the top jobs and top resources are hired, where people pitch to VCs, where a BD guy hunts for potential leads, cannot be banned.

In case of offices, please do so if the extra curricular activities actually impede the work. Otherwise, why would you want to put unnecessary restriction on your employees. Lets be Machiavellian about this, as long as the work is getting done ... why ban?

Its just that I follow the Theory Y ideology (with small and few doses of Theory X).

I say, dont ban them!! Leave it for your employees to decide whether they want to Orkut or finish their work. Trust me, if social networking sites are as bad as you say they are, then they will make the right choice

[gohm]

Business, in most areas being private enterprise, has the right to ban or not ban access to these sites as they see fit. I would agree if it interferes with work. I find it hard to fathom the current college age kids talking about socializing with peers via these social sites & texting. It seems to be so much so will there come a time when there will be no more "social" in socializing? Whatever happened to hanging out in person?!

[mahul]

I prefer to be silent about companies and organizations, but these sites must certainly be banned in colleges and university campuses.Students waste such a hell lot of time doing meaningless stuff over here that its very irritable indeed( i'm no exception). Engineers usually kill a lot of time in their university days and these sites have added to all that.

[rohit maloo]

we must leave it to an individual....let him/her decide on whether they want to waste time on such stuffs or they want to make use of it...if they dont perform just sack them in offices and in case of universities they will be at a loss.....just dont impose the ban....

[friendster7]

i agree with rohit..it is always good to leave it to individuals..so if we block the social networking sites..there are different ways on how he can access the site... so it is waste of time to ban social networking sites..he has to use the social networking as long as it is in a good way..

[vivekji]

Yap, It should happen, to be honest almost all of us use these websites to waste our precious time going behind these. uploading and downloading photos etc. If you really wnat to become a memeber why can't you go on with a technical networking website like linkedin, to enrich your career; instead of wasting your time getting friends of opposite ***.

Be an Engineer in all aspects of life

[The_Big_K]

Surprizingly, our poll shows people faovring banning of websites is more! The question is, how many of us would not touch social networking sites as a matter of personal discipline?

In that case, do you think it makes sense to ban sites like twitter?