Posted by

Barry Siskind

Community Manager

UK based My Job Group recently published a study declaring that social media may be costing British employers as much as ₤ 14  billion annually. In a study of 1,000 British workers, it was reported that nearly 6% spent over one hour per day on social media.

Nearly 55% of those who use social media confessed to spending time friending, tweeting, adding photos and videos. This, according to the article is producing the reported negative effect on the economy of Britain. One could safely assume that similar statistics could be found in other areas of the globe.

Rather than admonishing social media as a drag on the economy, I suggest that there is another side to this story. 

If 6% of the British labor force (approximately 2 million workers) is spending one hour + per day on social media, it is their way of building a community and staying in touch with friends, colleagues and peers.  In fact these workers may have discovered is a low cost, highly efficient method of staying engaged. Rather than it having a negative effect on the economy, it might prove exactly the opposite.  I would suggest a similar study at the beginning of the last century might have suggested the same conclusion about the telephone.

If I am right and what we are seeing is a symptom of a generation who is engaging with a community through social media, doesn’t this give the exhibition industry a strong incentive to take social media seriously?

Read the whole article at: http://myjobgroup.co.uk/media-centre/press-releases/social-media-costing-uk-economy-up-to.shtml