The Impact of Social Media in the Workplace

Internet and cellular phone technologies have made a huge impact on everything in the workplace from interpersonal communications to the way we conduct and process research. In today’s global economy, the speed of and access to communications has blurred the lines of the traditional business day. The dramatic speed of these changes and each successive generation’s ability to absorb and put the most recent technology to work for them can create a strained environment and work against productivity. A great example of the two sides of technology can be found in Napster and Apple iTunes, one of which destroyed the record industry and the other that transformed it. Every organization would be wise to consider security breaches, decreasing employee productivity where there is ready access to the Internet, as well as poor company image or branding on the web.

As Intellectual Capital gives way to knowledge sharing, we must adapt and change the way we do business. Today, the definition of what an asset consists of is changing, we now see; Human Capital: employees are more than just assets, and we need to invest in these them. Organizational Capital: promoting higher productivity through technology. Relational Capital: consisting of 3 primary elements, social networking through sites like Facebook, live search sites such as Google and link sharing via sites like Twitter have become an important part of relationship development.