Use of social media in the workplace Torreah Martin ENG 315 Professional Communications Professor Ed Buchanan August 14, 2017 Introduction  Social media has become part of everyone daily life since it helps people to connect quickly.  Globalization has also increased the usage of social media as people can connect with others from all over the world.  There are several manners through which social media accounts and platforms can be used in the workplace.  It can have internal and external uses which can improve the work efficiency.  Social media platforms offer a platform in which people can pass their ideas, communicate and relax.  The increased technology, for example, the use of smart phones, has increased accessibility to social media.  Control measures are however necessary to maintain ethical communication. Importance of using social media in the workplaces: Taking mental breaks  Social media is used to help people to relax.  Mental relaxation is useful in improving the productivity and efficiency of the employees.  After several hours of work, employees can turn to social media to give their brains a break.  The usage of social media can improve the orderliness of the workplace.  Employees using this method are less likely to interrupt their colleagues. Improving inter-personal and professional relationships  Employees can use the media to connect with their colleagues for personal and professional purposes.  They can ask each other questions and get support which can improve their work.  In the case of a technical hitch, for example, employees can use social media to ask their more experienced colleagues on how to solve the challenge.  Most employees build strong relationships via the social media.  Such strong relationships improve their cohesiveness in the workplace.  They are also able to contact each other even after work. Using social media to improve employee retention  The best performances can be recognized via the social media.  Interactions with the management in the social media also helps to pass any grievances that employees may have.  Employees can congratulate each other and maintain a transparent competition for rewards.  The management can collect the views of the employees via the social media.  In case a mistake leads to one of the employees getting fired, social media can be used to educate the rest on the same and explain why their colleague had to go.  Employees can have their issues posted and communicated to the sites, for example, weddings, birthdays parties, etc.  Employees remain updated on the occurrences in the company and therefore do not get caught up with negative issues like deadlines. Graphical representation of the usage of social media  The graph below shows the many uses of social media in the work place (Olmstead, Lampe and Ellison, 2016). Advertising via social media  Many companies spend a lot of money on political advertising.  Social media offers an excellent chance to advertise.  Companies can have a high number of supporters in social media sites like Facebook and Twitter among others.  Introducing new products and services can be challenging if proper advertising is not done.  A large number of major companies use social media to advertise.  However, the language used is cautious to avoid disrespectful utterances (Vernuccio, 2014).  The advertisement should also be aimed at involving many people, and therefore the language has to be selected carefully. Percentage of advertisements as per common social medias  Research shows there are four leading social media sites in an advertisement.  The leading ones are among the following (Vernuccio, 2014). Social media policies  Social behaviours in the online platforms pose a reputational risk to companies.  Policies regulating the use of the social media should be implemented to control its use.  For example, the social media accounts for the business should be used only for business purposes.  Private and sensitive information should not be posted on the sites.  The policy should also be applied both during work hours and beyond the working hours and weekends.  It should be designed to protect the company’s reputation and maintain security.  Bullying should also be tamed using such policies (Hall, and Lewis, 2014).  The management should have the policies well understood by all employees. Professional communication in social media  Communication in social media is usually casual.  Jargons are common, and there are few rules to follow.  However, for an official social site for a company, the language used should reflect the culture and norms of the business.  Abusive language should not be allowed, and coded messages which could confuse should also be avoided.  A consistent language and use of slogans can maintain a good image of the site.  The management should select a team responsible for effective communication.  Entertaining messages should also be used since most of the people seek for entertainment in the social media. Limitations of social media usage in the workplace  Use of social media in the workplaces can attract several challenges.  Cybersecurity remains a challenge to many businesses.  Hackers can use the social media platforms to pass viruses and other malware to the company.  The sites should be secured to avoid such chances.  The other challenge is time wastage, as any employees get addicted to social sites and spend a lot of time in them.  Fake news, poor language and other social evils can also be passed via the sites.  The outcome is likely to affect the reputation of the business and can lead to legal liabilities. Conclusion  Social media can be a reliable avenue for a company to pass information to the target market.  Using social media in the working place can improve the productivity of the employees and the company at large.  Proper policies should be used to control the language, messages, and culture of the enterprise.  Social media can indeed offer better company performance in the workplace. References  Hall, R., & Lewis, S. (2014). Managing workplace bullying and social media policy: Implications for employee engagement. Academy of Business Research Journal, 1, 128-138.  Olmstead, K., Lampe, C. and Ellison, N. (2016). Social Media and the workplace. Pew Research Centre, retrieved on August 7, 2017 from http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/06/22/social-media- andthe-workplace/  Vernuccio, M. (2014). Communicating corporate brands through social media: An exploratory study. International Journal of Business Communication, 51(3), 211-233.