Banning Social Sites at Work: NO AIR!

The debate about banning or blocking social sites has been going on for some time. Listening to the conversation, it seems like the most heated debates surround the topic of banning facebook, with some making the argument that it hampers productivity and others claiming that it can help the employee get work done.

I have blogged about my productivity before. Truth be told, finding a balance or system for getting work done while being engaged in social sites wasn’t easy, but I did. It is my responsibility to get the work done, and at times, social sites like Twitter have helped tremendously. I am a firm believer in the idea that all that matters is that the work gets done on time and done well. Outside of that, what else matters?

Initially, I felt the urge to join the conversation Matt Elliott started, but I wanted to come up with something different from the majority of the comments already posted at Brazen Careerist. I wanted to find a way to articulate to employers what social media means to most people in my generation, and it hit me last week on the metro as I was reading Geoff Livingston’s white paper The Socialprise.

Geoff’s paper includes some nice insights, and I definitely encourage you to check it out. The thing that led to my great metro moment was actually a quote he provided from Charlene Li. Promoting Groundswell, the book she co-authored with Josh Bernoff, Li said:

“Social Networks will be like air. They will be anywhere and everywhere we need and want them to be. And also, without that social context in our connected lives, we won’t really feel like we are truly living and alive, just as without sufficient air, we won’t really be able to breathe deeply.”

EXACTLY! That is it right there! It’s like air! If you take social sites away, it would be like trying to breath with no air! If you’ve been following PR Prescriptions at all, you know I like to make musical references. Here’s one for today’s post:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icv6DgZ-9O4]

Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown – “No Air”

But how do you expect me to work all day and NOT Tweet?!

My world revolves around it, it’s so hard for me to breathe.

Tell me how I’m supposed to breathe with no air? No Air… No Air…