Social Media and the Workplace

Social media influences and permeates many aspects of daily life for Americans today, and the workforce is no exception. These digital platforms offer the potential to enhance worker productivity by fostering connections with colleagues and resources around the globe. At the same time, employers might worry that employees are using these tools for non-work purposes while on the job or engaging in speech in public venues that might reflect poorly on their organization. A Pew Research Center survey of 2,003 American adults (including 795 who are currently employed on a full- or part-time basis) conducted Sept. 11-14 and 18-21, 2014, finds that social media plays some role in the lives of many American workers – but that role is not always clear-cut or entirely positive.

• Workers turn to social media for a range of reasons while at work, with taking a mental break being among the most common
• Many employers have rules for how employees use social media at work
• Relatively few workers use specific social media platforms for work-related purposes, and the impact of that use is not always clear-cut
• One-quarter of workers report that they never use the internet for work-related tasks in the course of a typical day