Social networks distract Caribbean workers
FOR several hours on Monday afternoon and lasting into the evening, 30 Jamaican Twitter users were debating the influence of social networks in the Jamaican workplace.
“@moniquepowell What of a country like #Jamaica that has proven very low productivity levels? What space for pvt use of social media on job?” tweeted Marcia Forbes, co-owner of Phase Three productions, who is researching a book about youths online in Jamaica — and better known to them as ‘@marciaforbes’, on Twitter.
Now, research by online recruitment website CaribbeanJobs.com, reveals that 70 per cent of the Caribbean working population with online access at work use social media during working hours. Of that group 99 per cent log on to Facebook.
The survey was conducted via the website over the past two months and completed by more than 1,500 people. The survey did not track respondents’ IP addresses but CaribbeanJobs.com report that a quarter of its visitors are from Jamaica.
Worryingly for employers, 30 per cent of those surveyed, admitted to spending between 30 minutes to two hours on social media daily during working hours. This, despite some of their employers having policies against the use of social networking at work.
“Perhaps the most interesting discovery of the survey was that 59 per cent of the workers that participated in the survey believed that they were just as productive as before, with a further seven per cent of the workers believing that they were actually more productive,” read the report, which reported that use of social media directly correlates with growing use of the Internet within the Caribbean.
Thirty per cent of Jamaican Internet users were found to be ‘active Facebook users’ reported the survey team. However, Osam also noted the positive the potential of social networks for Jamaican companies with an increasing number hiring individuals or consultants to operate their social network pages. Digicel, which is the sister company of CaribbeanJobs.com, leads locally with 230,000 Facebook fans.
“Social media allows you to post relevant content, update regularly, and create an interactive forum to keep users engaged without being too intrusive,” said Kofi Osam, head of Caribbeanjobs.com. “Whether you are a large company or a small business, there are benefits to be derived as long as social media networks are utilised in the proper manner.”
Osam cited his website as evidence that Internet use is growing in Jamaica and no longer a ‘white elephant’. Caribbeanjobs.com claims to have itself grown 500 per cent in its five years of operation, with more than 700 companies using its recruitment service, and approximately 100,000 monthly unique visitors from Jamaica.
“More Caribbean people are now embracing the true potential of the Internet as the most efficient and effective means of replacing traditional forms of advertising, consumer services, and communication,” he said.
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