How To Tame the Social Network At Work

snydeq writes "InfoWorld's Dan Tynan provides an in-depth report on how IT can tame social networking at work without shutting the organization off to the kinds of business opportunities today's social networks present. 'They're a productivity sink and a bandwidth suck. They're a vector for malware and a gift for corporate spies. They're a data spill just waiting to happen. And like it or not, they're already inside your enterprise,' Tynan writes. 'Most companies are in denial about how much their employees are using social nets, as well as what they can do to stop it.' Worse, many are still balking at the fact that having a presence on social networks is rapidly becoming a requirement for doing business. Strict commonsense policies, next-generation firewalls, data leak prevention software — all can decrease your company's exposure to the risks inherent in social networking while still enabling your company to solve problems, burnish its public image, recruit top talent, and generate ideas through social networks."

Re:Facebook Account

[slim]

Is it time to get a Facebook Account?

It depends on network effects. Are many of your friends/family using Facebook? If so, it might be polite to them if you were to sign up.

Nobody forces you to put sensitive private information on there. You can block any apps that irritate you.

My contacts have settled down into a very mature use pattern now; it's used for twitter-like microblogging, sharing photos, and -- crucially -- for forum-like discussions e.g. planning a party or some other kind of get-together. I haven't had a virtual sheep thrown at me, nor been bitten by a virtual zombie, for years.

Sure, you could say "I can use email for that", but if everyone else would prefer to use Facebook, your not being on it causes them a nuisance.

It's also quite handy for remembering people's birthdays ;)

Re:Facebook Account

[UnknowingFool]

Depends on what reason you want to use Facebook. I have a large family all over the country. Keeping up with them would have required a major amount of effort without Facebook. For example I have 2 new nieces and it's very nice that my brother posts pictures of them periodically. That was my primary reason. The secondary reason is to keep up with friends, some of whom I would have never found again. Last it's another way for people to reach me (that I can ignore if I choose). Yes some people are in it for the vanity. It's a tool like everything else.