Yesterday I attended A Digital Future 2011 event organised by iON. With a focus on channel integration and the digital sphere I took several interesting observations that directly relate to the issues that service providers often face online, in increasing traffic to conversions.

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Allowing unwanted email to reach your organisation goes beyond the issue of hindering productivity. There are now laws on both sides of the Atlantic to expose employers to charges of liability and harassment. These charges can be brought even if the harassment comes from a faceless, unknown global Spammer. Being ‘unaware’ of having to shield your employees is no excuse in the eyes of the law and taking such issues lightly with a low-end solution for Viruses, Spam, Sexually Explicit Material and Unwelcome Content will not protect employers from litigation.

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Is blocking access to social networks in the workplace really the answer, when a business’s ability to flourish is significantly enhanced by these very sites?

As I’ve noted before in social networking – friend or foe, research into time spent on online activities has found social networks hogging the top spot, and I don’t envisage this changing anytime soon.

So what does all this time on social networks mean for business? Well undoubtedly the social network platform has opened up a whole new arena for businesses and other organisations to advertise, market themselves and generate leads for zero costs. In fact in certain sectors such as hospitality and events… you just aren’t cool if you don’t have a Facebook page. For many of us when we’re checking out a new hairdressers, nightclub, hotel, company or retailer, checking out their Facebook page is the first port of call. Here you can find out what other people are saying, avail of the promos dedicated to Followers or find out any other information you may need with regard to directions, services, opening times. Many of the custom fan pages even allow for you to book appointments, contact customer service or reserve rooms automatically and many also have a direct PayPal link so you can purchase goods or services directly from the page! It’s actually possible for a company to manage their entire business on a custom Facebook page… scary.

So with regard to social media’s contribution to businesses… well in my opinion it’s pretty high!

However… stats from IT firm Morse which reveal that 57% employees were accessing sites such as Facebook and Twitter for an average of 40 minutes per week, meaning that non-business use of the social networks is costing the UK £1.38 billion every year ($2.28 billion US Dollars) cannot be argued with.
There are clearly numerous employees who take advantage of the free access to social media sites and faster broadband speeds at the office to keep their social lives up to date and avoid doing anything productive in a work-related context.

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Many people simply assume that bullying is an unpleasant experience reserved for the playground. Unfortunately though, this is not the case. Recent reports have found that there are no age-limits or physical confines that exempt you from becoming a victim. The problem is that the older you get the more resilient your expected to be, so often a message that someone finds hilarious can be highly offensive to someone else depending on a number of facets such as gender, race, religion, class and so on. The fact is that it stands with the employer to ensure that there is an acceptable usage policy drawn out and understood by all employees. More importantly though, to avoid any legal and potentially costly ramifications… such a policy must be adhered to and this requires monitoring!

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In latest BBC news Defence Minister Nick Harvey is to set out cyber battle

According to the report by the BBC released minutes ago on November 9^th,

“In his address to Chatham House, he is expected to warn that, in the wrong hands, a laptop could be as effective a weapon as a cruise missile.”

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It’s ONLY 49days, 15hours and 34mins to Christmas!!! Well at least it was when I started this blog, but you get the gist, it’s that time of year again. The pandemonium is descending upon us as quickly as the associated bills will flood many hall floors in January.

Love it or hate it, the festive season is very hard to avoid particularly if you intend doing any sort of shopping. It’s a retailers dream Christmas, a huge percentage of the population all buying mindlessly at once, so I suppose you can’t really blame them for shoving it in our faces before the last apple has been bobbed for… however if you’ve opted to avoid the total madness of the shops and opted for the peace of shopping online, then take note of the following and don’t run the risk of online security forcing you to adopt a wholly bah humbug opinion of the festive season!

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