According to a survey from Robert Half Technology, 54 percent of chief information officers interviewed recently said their firms do not allow employees to visit social networking sites for any reason while at work.   The survey included more than 1,400 CIOs from companies across the United States with 100 or more employees.

CIOs were asked, “Which of the following most closely describes your company’s policy on visiting social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, while at work?” Their responses:

Prohibited completely                                      54 percent
Permitted for business purposes only        19 percent
Permitted for limited personal use               16 percent
Permitted for any type of personal use       10 percent

So the debate continues: are social networking sites a time-wasting diversion from real business priorities, or effective business tools.  Discuss among yourselves and post a comment.

Hat Tip: LaVern Pritchard