Why companies should stop blocking social media

These days news breaks on Twitter, not network TV. Video chat on Facebook, Google+, and our smartphones phones is making it easy to chat with friends, in real time, no matter where you are. The speed of information is moving so fast that some millennials aren’t even using email to communicate.

Social communication has become part of the fabric of our everyday lives.

So, why is it that 54 percent of companies are still blocking access to social media sites at work?

Certainly that number has come down in recent years, but to think that more than half of all companies are still not affording their staff to access Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter during the day. That just doesn’t add up.

Now, I’m not here to say all companies should unblock social sites in the workplace. Certainly there are times and places where it makes sense. But, 54 percent—that seems too high.

Here are some business reasons why that 54 percent should reconsider:

Companies are investing in social media as a marketing/communications tool.

Nearly all of them (94 percent), according to a Digital Media Wire report.