• Reuters , Monday, November 3, 2008 12 PM

A new study from a British think tank says that managers shouldn't stop their staff from using sites like MySpace and Facebook, as social networking helps employees build closer links to colleagues and customers. The report from Demos' Peter Bradwell claims that online social networking helps foster productivity, innovation and democratic working environments.

However, despite the benefits, Bradwell said companies should also implement practical guidelines for non-work usage of social networks. "Bans on Facebook or YouTube are in any case almost impossible to enforce; firms may as well try to put a time limit on the numbers of minutes allowed each day for gossiping," he wrote. "We argue that we need to understand how, once we accept the implications of social networks, we can manage the new challenges and trade-offs."

Bradwell's research showed that banning social networks from the workplace is actually counter-productive. "Allowing workers to have more freedom and flexibility might seem counterintuitive, but it appears to create business more capable of maintaining stability," he wrote. Robert Ainger, corporate director of Orange Business, which co-produced the report, added that during an economic downturn, "the value of networking...is perhaps more important than ever and I believe it could mean the difference between a business collapsing or capitalizing on the tricky conditions."

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