Is Facebook more dangerous than guns and booze?

Globally there’s a startling trend in corporations. In 2009, companies blocking their employees from Facebook increased by 20% according to one global survey. At present, nearly 1 in 2 US and UK companies deny access. And the number appear to be rising.

Indeed it seems the fear of Facebook and Twitter is so great that companies, which restrict internet access, would rather their employees search for guns and booze than socialize, according to data from Scansafe:

Note: we’ve searched for cases of ‘Facebook violence’ in the workplace and have yet to find any; but we did uncover numerous stories of disgruntled employees wreaking havoc with guns (some under the influence of booze).

We’re partly joking here, but in all honesty, is blocking employees from social media a good trend or a bad one?

We doubt that guns and booze will ever impact the bottom line (unless you manufacture and sell them), but there is mounting evidence that social media, when managed properly, does create economic value.

And if Warren Buffett, the world’s greatest investor, has any merit on the topic, he estimates that any employee, who is a skilled communicator, is worth 50% more than his/her colleague who is not socially adept…

In the spirit of Buffett/bets, here’s some questions and predictions. With employee dissatisfaction on the rise, will more companies continue to block their employees in 2010? Will companies that promote access gain more of a competitive advantage? We predict yes to both. And we believe that, while short term the battle ‘to block or not to block’ may be a company decision, ultimately it will be the worker who will decide ‘to Facebook or not to Facebook’ wielding the power of their smartphones.

Note: Penetration of 3G is expected to reach 54% by the end of 2010 in Western Europe (up 13% from 2009), and 46% in North America (up 8% from 2009); it’s already a whopping 90+% in Japan. Source: Mobile Internet Report By the way, Happy New Year!