Must equal up to 1200 words and have at least 3 scholarly sources. listed below.

Case 13:  Should Employees Use Social Media Sites at Work? 

1. Why do you think results are so mixed on the use of social networking in the workplace?

2. What are some possible upsides to utilizing social media as part of an integrated marketing strategy, especially in digital marketing?

3. What are the downsides to restricting employee access to social networking sites?

4. You work for a small company that wants to use social media to increase awareness. However, the CEO is worried that employees might use social media for non-work purposes. the CEO Has charged you with developing a social media policy that employees can reference when using social media in the workplace. Provide a list of recommendations for monitoring and regulating social media use.

Reply to Sheron n 75 words listed below.

Employees should be allowed to use social media sites at work as long as they are in a position to balance between their work and social media. When choosing social media policy of any company, the employers should consider the needs, happiness, as well as the welfare of the staff. The employers can allow social media sites but set boundaries that satisfy the employer and the employees. The employees should try to focus on the beneficial part thus making it beneficial to the organization.

In the current world, social media is an important platform in every organization which can be used in marketing. Employees can reach out to their friends easily and tell them about the company’s goods or services thus increasing the market size. Employees are also able to obtain more beneficial information from other people. Social media at work also allows for frequent breaks for the employees. Most people are productive if they are in a position to take short frequent breaks to refresh their minds (Kietzmann, et. al, 2011).

B)

Online fraud refers to any type of fraud scheme which uses websites, emails, chat rooms or any other means related to the internet. The internet is used to facilitate the process by presenting the fraudulent solicitations to the targeted victims and then transmitting the earnings to financial institutions. The best way how one can protect themselves from online fraud is ensuring that they don’t allow online deals from strangers especially those involving huge amounts of money (Shraim, et. al, 2014). They should follow the whole process and sign all the required documents.

Identity theft is a situation where someone deliberately uses the identity of someone else for financial gain or for obtaining credit and other benefits using another person’s name. To prevent this people should ensure that all their private and confidential are safe and not accessible to every person (Ibrahim, et. al, 2016).

I do not see a problem with employees using social media sites at work as long as it is not affecting their productivity. For the last 20+ years I have worked in a manufacturing environment as either an operator or supervisor. And yes, I can remember when there was no Internet on our cell phones. Neither of the companies I have worked for in the last 15 years has allowed mobile phones on the production floor. It did not matter whether those phones were Internet capable or not, for some, the temptation to make a phone call or send a text would be too much and productivity would suffer. Studies have shown some employees have used social media sites for up to 2 hours during the workday (Ferrell, Hirt & Ferrell, 2016).These days, with all our phones are capable of doing the temptation to constantly check them is higher than it is ever been. Checking in on Facebook or twitter or snapchat, checking a score or even the stock market may only take a few seconds, but it is a distraction and causes a loss in production. Employees should be allowed to use their phones and even laptops in the break areas and outside the plant.

As far as identity theft goes, I have been a victim. In 2015, more than 13 million individuals were victims of identity theft Kess, Grimaldi & Revels, 2016). Lucky for me an $890 charge to a New Jersey oil change establishment caught the eye of my bank’s fraud department. While we do a lot of shopping online, my wife and I never give out personal information over public Wi-Fi and that is exactly what companies today are learning they cannot do. My company for example, allows employees an Internet access that is separate from the main company Internet. It is a guest access. This is done specifically to reduce the risk of proprietary information becoming public.