wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Comments

• [1] levjj August 27, 2007 - 09:23AM

  Personally I wonder especially about "facebook for grownups," LinkedIn.com.

  Because it's clients who request that they "add me to their network" I feel compelled to comply.

  Help -- I have succumbed to "peer2peer pressure!"

  
  
• [2] Sarah from New York August 27, 2007 - 10:46AM

  I listen to WNYC all day at my desk AND I check in on facebook.

  But Instant Messaging is still the biggest distraction.

  
  
• [3] Greg from Union Square August 27, 2007 - 10:47AM

  Hi,

  I work at Doubleone Media, a new Web 2.0 startup in NYC. I'm encouraged to use Facebook at work - all the time!

  In fact, because social networking is a great low-cost form of advertising, I use many sites, including Facebook, to advertise. My company just launched www.beYOU.tv, a fitness, inspirational and educational video-on-demand website.

  Visit us at www.beYOU.tv or join our Facebook group! http://nyu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2373923810

  Greg

  
  
• [4] Jeffrey S. from East Elmhurst August 27, 2007 - 10:48AM

  Why does your guest sound like he's speaking from the bottom of a pool? Why aren't you reprimanding him for being such a jerk talking through his cheap cell-phone?

  
  
• [5] Lonnie from Brooklyn August 27, 2007 - 10:49AM

  Speaking as a Boss-- I find a growing creep of the Personal involvement of workers on the internet. Posting Blogs, FaceBook, trolling your personal email slowly takes more and more of a person's attention. And at work, it distracts. And these workers always refuse to note that their supervisors SEE THIS.

  Additionally, when you are on the Company's Machines, your private internet activities wander across the grey line between Coporate and Private. Workers should be more careful about this.

  If the Company requires Facebook, fine. If the company does this-- it's even better if the company has it's own restricted version. But most companies lazily use the wide-open FaceBook. More normally, if the company has no policy, keep your personal internet habits at HOME.

  
  
• [6] Dara B. from Brooklyn, NY August 27, 2007 - 10:49AM

  I use Facebook at work and listen to WNYC all day. Its just part of my routine of checking e-mail and trying to fill time.

  
  
• [7] Alicia from Hartford August 27, 2007 - 10:49AM

  I work at The Hartford Insurance company. Almost every radio station is blocked (except WNYC and WFUV, thankfully), all personal email sites are blocked (gmail, yahoo, hotmail) and facebook, myspace, and friendster are blocked. It seems the management here has no faith in their employees to get their menial tasks done if they are distracted. I find it insulting. But, I'm just a temp.

  
  
• [8] Hilary Walsh from Montclair, NJ August 27, 2007 - 10:51AM

  The danger for financial institutions is that unlimited access by employees to facebook and other such sites exposes the network to unauthorized access, viruses,etc. There are various federal regulations that require financial institutions to develop policies and test compliance to protect network programs and most importantly customer information. Reference Gramm-Leach-Bliley act...

  
  
• [9] john from upper west side August 27, 2007 - 10:52AM

  Are you kidding!

  Many mny years ago companys were concerned about none escential and personal phone calls. The internet, use of computers during meetings instant messaging Etc., and now Face book. Lets get real about Productivity in the service, and the mannager sector. In manufacturing workers are not sitting around in front of a monitor with an internal email address and access to the web. Get real!!!!

  
  
• [10] Jeremy from Manhattan August 27, 2007 - 10:53AM

  I was first turned on to FaceBook after a friend's wedding. She wanted a way to keep in touch with the guests as well as a means to share photographs. Before the wedding, I had not thought to create a profile. While I continue to keep my profile updated and loosely pay attention, it is not an important part of my day-to-day networking (for that, I use email or G-chat).

  And I, too, listen to WNYC for almost the whole day.

  
  
• [11] D. R from Westchester CTY August 27, 2007 - 10:56AM

  I think that there is really no reason to go on Facebook at work. It is a social networking site! I do think it is a wonderful site to check up on people you know, get in touch with family, however I do feel it is vital to remember that everything you post is as if you were announcing it on the radio.

  
  
• [12] jim from brooklyn August 27, 2007 - 10:57AM

  Is this guy with the bad cell phone connection even over 18? This is not new technology. It's just the latest dope for the masses. Turn off your screens and go outside people.

  
  
• [13] Mark from Astoria August 27, 2007 - 11:05AM

  "latest dope for the masses"??

  Chill out, Jim. Its a discussion about a current cultural phenomenon. Whether or not the guest is over 18 does not make him any less qualified to discuss this.

  
  
• [14] mark Brown from markbnj.blogspot.com or my-poem-a-day.blogspot.com August 27, 2007 - 11:07AM

  Brian:

  The loss of productivity isn't new.

  When I first got access to the internet (in 1989), I spent hours and days in "netnews" scanning and reading all the non-sex (and somewhat work related computer) email.

  All technologies disrupt.

  I bet even the printing press caused problems like this in it's day.

  and I'm glad that I don't have wnyc blocked either. (and I've been listening online since about 2001 I'd guess).

  
  
• [15] Lauren from Brooklyn August 27, 2007 - 11:09AM

  I've had a facebook page for a few years now and I found that after about a month at an office job I had grown tired of it. Now I only surf facebook for a couple minutes at a time when I need a little distraction. When you sit at a desk 8 hrs. a day you need the occasional distraction. From where I'm sitting, facebook actually increases my productivity as it keeps me from glazing over completely at the day's monotony. Better to spend a few minutes on facebook then 10 minutes reading a Times article.

  
  
• [16] john from upper west side August 27, 2007 - 11:16AM

  thanks Mark,

  When I graduated from a college that only excepted 200 new students a year and I had for job offers from recuters from fortune 500 and I'm not a lawyer I took a position with a division of GE for what was a huge sallery of $125 a week. The department head went around checking pencils ahanding out pencil extenders.

  There were dress codes and if asked to take a meeting you had better have shaved...You bet times are changing.

  
  
• [17] World Traveller from NYC August 28, 2007 - 04:56PM

  Of course it is a huge distraction... but sometimes it is a welcome one (everyone needs a break every now and then!)

  I graduated from undergrad in 2003 and just succumbed to joining facebook a few months ago...

  As a child of immigrants from India, Facebook is a fantastic way for me to keep in touch with cousins and other relatives who live in India (and everywhere else). Before Facebook, I had no idea where my cousins were, what they were interested in, etc.. Now we have this great way to keep in touch and just to know what we are all up to. It makes me feel closer and less left-out from that world.

  
  
• [18] robin raskin from NYC August 28, 2007 - 05:01PM

  Re: business vs. pleasure. I'm a 50 something year old but long time champion of social networking. That said, I've tried to incorporate rules for myself.

  Facebook is for friends and light chat.

  LinkedIn is for business contacts and work-related things.

  Of course, both have given me two new reasons to feel guilty for being a lousy friend but I'm learning to cope.

  As for whether it's a waste of time? I remember my Dad saying that to me about my time on the phone with my friends. Ultimately it's a question of balance, but yes Facebook is an important tool in the toolbox.

  
  
• [19] Geoffrey Perry from Upper West Side August 28, 2007 - 08:56PM

  With a job, a husband, a son and full life of real time friends with real time hobbies (that usually take us out of doors, I can't imagine WHEN I would ever have time to maintain a Faccebook profile not to mention actually posting and chatting on it. I am at the point in my life when I don't need more "friends." I put that word in quotation marks because if my Facebook contacts were real friends I would have been in touch with them anyway. The phrase "get a life" has none of its throwaway dismissive tone here, I really mean it. Get one, folks!

  
  
• [20] Bob from Washington, DC August 28, 2007 - 09:49PM

  I'm glad to hear a discussion about Facebook in the workplace happening on your show. If you run a story like this in the future you might want to talk a little more about how employers are harnessing Facebook. For example, quite a few companies including some big name brands like Best Buy are leveraging Facebook to recruit employers. Smaller companies are using Facebook as well as business focused site LinkedIn as a way to get all of their employees involved in the recruiting process. This is a major money saver that, especially for larger companies, if cut off will likely be counterproductive. Besides, if employers ban it at work employers will just get iPhones and other digital PDA's that let them use it another way!

  
  
• [21] Alex from New York, NY August 29, 2007 - 12:26AM

  It is pointless to ban Facebook or other tools that *might* be used for private/entertainment purposes just because an employer is afraid of productivity losses. We're all grown-ups and if I don't WANT to work, I can always find (non-digital) ways to decrease my productivity to zero by keeping magazines in my desk drawer or extending my walks in the park. If employers treat their employees like kids, I guess this just shows how good or bad the climate in a company is... and 'hours spent at desk' does not equal to productivity.

  
  
• [22] Danielle from New Jersey August 29, 2007 - 12:55PM

  if you complete all your expected tasks and assignments, then who cares if you are on Facebook for 5 minutes or 2 hours. now, if you are a manager and feel you could have your employees producing more than what is expected...then you should be asking them to complete additional tasks in the first place! if the employee is unmotivated to go above and beyond, and chooses to spend countless hours on Faceback - that's their problem.