Who decides if you can Tweet, have Friends on Facebook, or even use LinkedIn? Are any of these sites or any other social media platforms safe and secure?

The first question would be why would you want to waste time Tweeting, or Facebooking if you are at work anyway? You should be working! There are many cases where people do waste time at work on the social media sites, on the other hand there are many people who use these sites for the good of all mankind and more importantly, for the good of the organization they work for.

So who gets to decide? One example would be the security division of your organization has deemed that all social media sites are a hackers free pass to heaven so that means no one gets to use these sites and your computer is locked from accessing them. But some clever people know how to get around this security measure and use the sites without the permission of their employer, and this is definitely not a good idea.

Some organizations actually employ people to actively use social media sites and promote their brand, organization, products and services and obviously these people can be trusted not to catch a nasty virus on their travels - or not!

Employers are also concerned that employees may inadvertently share  sensitive information, such as upcoming projects, trade secrets,  confidential documents, etc. In the end it is down to education, awareness, prevention and, in the case of hackers and viruses, early detection, quite simple really. Everyone from the IT professionals in the organization down to the cleaning lady or man should be adequately educated and know some basic facts on how to use of the internet, and the whys and wherefores. In some cases it would be a good idea to enable these sites so that employees can use them to everyones benefit, in work time, and in other cases it may not be acceptable.

If you are the employer's representative who has to say "No", it really boils down to not being like someones parent and abusing your authority and saying "No, because I said so and you don't need to know the reason why"! If your organization has deemed using social media sites whilst at work is a definite no, obviously ask why and listen when they offer you an explanation. You might not like it but at least you know why. On the other hand if you have a really good reason why it might help you in your job or help the organization you are working for be clear and concise when you offer them your views and opinions.