This morning, AVG Technologies released the 7th installment of their Digital Diaries series, which covers topics based on how technology is changing childhood and the workplace. This latest installment, titled Digital Work Life, is the result of a 4000 person study conducted in 10 countries. The key finding of this study was that 53% of adult workers feel that social media is eroding their personal privacy, especially where the workplace is concerned.
AVG’s study also showed that the three top concerns for employees were cyberbullying, unwanted romantic advances and embarrassing use of photos/information on social media. All three of these concerns have caused 23% of those polled to limit their posts, while 24% polled stopped posting to the media sites altogether.
When it came to cyberbullying, 10% of respondents said that they had been the subject of derogatory conversations online, while 9% replied that they had been sent negative messages from colleagues via social media. The study showed that 25% of adult workers polled are not protected by any policies in the workplace. The two exceptions to this were the UK and Australia, both of which had over 50% of companies with a set social media work policy in place. In addition, 50% of those polled felt that it was their employer’s responsibility to monitor social media behavior while on work time.
“This study highlights the need for a combination of greater education around social media alongside stricter enforcement of the accompanying standards for social media etiquette at work. And we’re not just talking about employees here; employers can trip themselves up just as easily when managing the company’s own social media presence. Until everyone is clear about exactly what is and isn’t acceptable online behavior, trying to enforce policies will just fail, leaving the door open to cyberbullying and invasion of privacy,” explained AVG Senior Security Evangelist Tony Anscombe, in a press release today. “If organizations take the time to first educate before establishing and enforcing policies, privacy can be protected in the workplace without having to sacrifice any of the social activity we all enjoy.”
Outside of cyberbullying, one in ten of adult workers polled replied that they have been publically embarrassed by photos or videos posted via social media. In addition, 9% of those polled said that they have had manager use information found on social media against either themselves or a colleague, while 6% said that they had to counter unwanted romantic advances from colleagues via social sites.
To view the full report infographic from AVG, please visit the site here.
