Should social media use be limited at work?
Posts seen on social media are drivers of emotion and motivation among employees, according to a new study, which advised employers to consider limiting social media consumption at work.
Researchers from the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations recently took on a two-part survey to examine the impact of social media content on how employees go about their workday.
Some content can make you feel good and help you to lean into your work, said Rebecca Greenbaum, a Professor of Human Resource Management in the Rutgers School of Management and Labour Relations and lead author of the study, in a statement.
The findings revealed that positive behaviour emerged from consumed content under the themes of:
Attractive (fit pics, thirst traps, etc.)
Family (family-related content)
Accomplished (someone's promotion)
Across Studies 1 and 2, we found that attractive, family, and accomplished social media content were positively related to self-assurance, and positively, indirectly related to work-goal progress through the mediating role of self-assurance, the study read.
On the other hand, content related to politics and rage bait, classified under the contentious theme, was found to be related to anxiety and indirectly connected to social withdrawal.
If you see something contentious, and you're wondering how it's going to change your conversation with your mum later, or your co-worker posted something political and you really don't agree, maybe you're distracted by your anxiety and you pull away from co-workers today, Greenbaum said.
Impact of accomplished content
The first study also showed that accomplished social media content was positively related to anxiety, and then positively, indirectly related to social withdrawal through anxiety.
But the second study found that emotions stirred from accomplished content may be influenced by an individual's competitiveness.
If you're competitive by nature, seeing other people's accomplishments on social media can fire you up to go out and take on the world. But if you're not competitive, you might pull back, Greenbaum said.
What does this mean for employers?
The report confirms how social media content consumed by employees can impact their approach towards work during the day.
It comes amid a recent study from cropink that 77% of employees use social media during working hours, with 34% attributing it to the need to have a mental break from work.
Amid social media's impact on employee behaviour, Greenbaum suggested limitations on social media use in the workplace.
If an important project is looming, it might be a good idea to ask employees to temporarily avoid or minimise their social media use, she advised.
Leaders can explain that the project requires full mental presence, so it might be too risky to engage with the volatility of social media and its potential to hijack one's attention.
Employers can also consider introducing social media breaks at work.
Some people have their social apps up and running all day. As an alternative, organisations could designate social media breaks to limit engagement to a few times a day, Greenbaum said.
This could provide a more controlled way to socialise without getting too sucked in to the drama of whatever is going on in your feed.
https://www.hcamag.com/au/news/general/social-media-posts-impact-employee-behaviour-study-finds/553178
