Next Great Thing

Facebook’s influence is sweeping the globe and changing professional relationships in its wake. A recent article in Singapore’s TODAY, The boss wants to be your online buddy, explores the effect of the social network on the workplace. Companies are reacting very differently:

Companies like Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs have banned Facebook. But on the other end of the spectrum, there’s Serena Software. This month, the software developer introduced “Facebook Fridays”, where its 800-strong global workforce is given one hour of personal time to surf the social networking site.

In fact, Serena president and chief executive Jeremy Burton is such a fan of the social networking site that he decided to make Facebook his company’s intranet. He believes that colleagues who know each other on a personal level will work together better.

…In the media industry, where networking and communication forms the bread and butter of their business, sites like Facebook are embraced with gusto. Staff from leading public relations firms and advertising agencies like Ogilvy, and Young and Rubicam have formed their own networks on social networking sites.

Indeed, social networks are felling the walls that traditionally divide the personal and the private, which can have fallout in the office.

If knowledge is power, then it could be abused. More and more employers are trawling social networking sites like Friendster and Facebook for information on their potential employees, although the mole in this case would be the victim himself.

“If the employees prefer to keep their work and social networking activities personal and separate, they should be allowed to do so without fear of repercussions,” said Ms Cheung.

However, that is easier said than done, with most people telling Today that rejecting the request might hinder their career prospects. They’ll accept the request, but will water down their online profiles.

The Facebook phenomenon has swept through the Singaporean population aged 15 to 35 like a hurricane over the past year. It has overtaken the position of Friendster, a popular social networking platform that many Singaporeans are familiar with. In fact, Singapore took the tenth spot in a global usage ranking last month.

(Facebook User Stats as of: October 25, 2007)

The massive popularity of Facebook is probably due to the high levels of adoption of information communications technology (coined as ‘infocomms’) in the nation. A survey conducted by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) in 2006 showed that 78% of Singaporean households own a computer and 71% has access to the internet, marking an unprecedented high level of IT penetration to the masses within the nation.

Singapore has also been highly dependent on IT resources and computer usage; more than half of businesses use them. According to a Business Infocomms survey last year, all companies over 250 employees used them.

This extensive use of computers provides opportunities for employees in Singapore to access Facebook accounts during office hours. In August 2007, an online survey by security and control firm Sophos prompted the discussion on whether social networking platforms should be allowed in the office. It showed that 14.8 per cent of users admitted to being logged in to the site for the whole day, while 37.2 per cent accessed the site at work “once or twice” a day.

Think about this: If managers and employees are “on the same side,” having the superior on Facebook is hardly any threat to the employee. They have to lower their guard and learn to trust the other. Social networking provides a good platform for communicating beyond work, which allows management and employees to know each other better. Be it a scrabble game or an attack by the vampire clan, it will definitely adds colour to the character. The constant communications this format will form a personality behind the solemn mask of professionalism during work. When that happens, hearts will be opened and trust will follow.

In the short run, operational efficiency may be affected, true. But when everyone is on the same side, the synergies developed will definitely bring results.

-Kevyn Eng, NGT correspondent from FH Singapore