Last but not least: Facebook tears a hole in bosses' coffers
British entrepreneurs lose almost 200 million euros per day through online communities such as MySpace or Facebook. In total, employees spend around 233 million paid working hours per month on social networks.
Online communities such as MySpace and Facebook are costing British entrepreneurs almost 200 million euros a day. This is the result of a study by the British employment law company Peninsula. In total, employees spend around 233 million paid working hours per month on social networks. According to Pressetext.ch, reactions to this result vary: Mike Huss, Director of Peninsula, appeals to companies to block access to MySpace and Co. "Why should employers allow their employees to waste two hours a day on Facebook when they are being paid to do their job?", Huss told the BBC. Gerhard Laga from the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, on the other hand, believes that it should be in the employer's interest for their employees to network and present themselves online: "Of course, it depends on the industry, but social networking can contribute to efficiency."
Meanwhile, scientists at Sheffield Hallam University generally doubt the social benefits of online communities. Researcher Will Reader looked at the new types of friendship emerging on the internet and came to the conclusion that extensive contact lists say nothing about a person's actual social status. "Although the number of friends that appear on a profile can be huge, the number of close friends remains roughly the same as in real life," says Reader. Once again, this is an insight that only science can give us. And people used to think that if you had 2391 friends on Facebook, you could hardly sit down at the computer because of all the dates in real life.
Meanwhile, scientists at Sheffield Hallam University generally doubt the social benefits of online communities. Researcher Will Reader looked at the new types of friendship emerging on the internet and came to the conclusion that extensive contact lists say nothing about a person's actual social status. "Although the number of friends that appear on a profile can be huge, the number of close friends remains roughly the same as in real life," says Reader. Once again, this is an insight that only science can give us. And people used to think that if you had 2391 friends on Facebook, you could hardly sit down at the computer because of all the dates in real life.
