How social media can make you unproductive?

The social media channels provides the most common ways of communication, easy to share knowledge, news and what's happening around the world. However, it changes and affects each person in a different way, or ways. Social media can be very distracting, with the majority of people openly admitting that they do check it at some point during their working day. This is based on the statistics that show that the average person spends over 2 hours on these platforms daily. 

Productivity and social media

 

Keeping in touch with family and friends is not the only thing that people use social media for, and it has its benefits when it comes to keeping everyone informed about current events and the social media activities of a business. However, since many people abuse it, many companies have responded with firewalls to monitor how their employees use the internet at work.

Studies have shown that social media use can be addictive. Because some people cannot control their addiction, they end up spending more time using it, than working. 

How social media abuse in the workplace affects companies

 

If employees keep taking time off their work to check on their feeds, it creates a problem for customer service and affects the business reputation. The time wasted on social media could be used to complete tasks, and often employees feel anxious and disconnected if they find that at the end of the day, they have not completed their daily schedule. This could mean that they have to stay later to complete their work, or take it home. 

Admitting to the problem and solving it

 

If an employee controls their social media time to when they have their usual breaks, then there is no problem. However, if it is starting to affect their work, then like all addictions, they need to admit to the problem.

Companies that require social media engagement should ensure that they have a person or department in charge of it, by having social media policies and guidelines. Many companies opt for the unpopular blocking of social media platforms to ensure that there are no distractions. Special employee phones are also used at some companies to discourage them from looking at their personal devices, but this can be expensive for smaller businesses.