Radio hosts encouraging employees to be on Facebook at work

Celeste Blackburn SPHR

Sometimes I listen to the top 20 channel on Sirius satellite radio In the morning on the way to work. Both days I was tuned in this week, I heard them urging listeners to be their friends on Facebook and Twitter on work hours.

They've been doing a push for Facebook friends for a few months, but this is the first time I think I've heard them say "When you are at work later today and bored and on Facebook anyway, check us out."

Does stuff like that irk you? Is this no different than promoting a contest that urges people to listen to the radio at work and waiting for the signal to be the 100th caller (so not only are employees paying too much attention to the radio, when the contest starts, they are tying up a phone?

NaeNae55

I don't mind the occasional contest, but if it was ongoing and company wide I might have a problem with it. I have seen departments get involved on a temporary basis (a special contest that lasts a few weeks) and it has done wonders for moral and teamwork.

I do have a problem with radio personalities encouraging your employees not to work. The only way I know of to change that is to let sponsors know how you feel, but if it is Sirius you are out of luck there.

I have seen a few gamesites that have a button you push and the screen becomes some spreadsheet so you can switch quickly if someone comes in your office. That really, really bugs me. I decided not to play on their site, but it doesn't look like they cared.

ACU Frank

I was extremely surprised to hear this was going on. I mean, who knew people still listened to the radio?

Celeste Blackburn SPHR

Nae, I have a friend who watches most of the final four basketball games on a site that has an "emergency spreadsheet" button like that.

Frank, It's [I]satellite [/I]radio -- that makes it new fangled and stuff.

Paul in Cannon Beach

Sounds like they were just trying to be funny and/or edgy. However, they sound a little desperate. PLEASE BE OUR FRIEND!! Probably one of those "Morning Zoo" shows where the humor is forced and if you listen closely you can almost hear the despair of forty somethings acting like twenty somethings.



The button is often called a "boss button". I've heard...

Still Need Coffee

Interestingly, I was listening to something the other day saying that Facebook actually isn't a huge productivity buster....it's the "smokebreak" for the modern workplace. Whatever study this was, it said that the actual biggest time drainers/productivity wreckers are e-mail interruptions and unneeded/unstructured meetings.

After giving it some thought, I'm actually inclined to agree. When I visit Facebook (at home or on my phone, of course), I'm only on there for [I]maybe [/I]60 seconds.....

Celeste Blackburn SPHR

Paul, it does seem like of desperate, and they've been doing it for a while now. I'm starting to wonder if they get some sort of bonu$ for ever 1,000 friends or so.

Coffee, I know a lot of people who look at Facebook or other short bouts of Internet surfing as their "smoke breaks." If a company allows employees to spend a few minutes every hour outside smoking, it does only seem fair that the nonsmokers get to feed their Internet habits, too.

Paul in Cannon Beach

I think the constant flow of trivial information, updates, responses, etc make FB extremely distracting and non-productive. At least that is what my own field research has shown.

Sharon McKnight SPHR

[quote=Still Need Coffee;721504]Interestingly, I was listening to something the other day saying that Facebook actually isn't a huge productivity buster....it's the "smokebreak" for the modern workplace. Whatever study this was, it said that the actual biggest time drainers/productivity wreckers are e-mail interruptions and unneeded/unstructured meetings.

After giving it some thought, I'm actually inclined to agree. When I visit Facebook (at home or on my phone, of course), I'm only on there for [I]maybe [/I]60 seconds.....[/quote]


60 seconds? Hmmm, you must not play Facebook Scrabble.

Sharon