Some may describe it as an obsession, a compulsion or the constant need to be “in the know.” Other can’t fathom communicating without it, including the 77 percent of Americans who use this tool at work.  News flash! Social networking sites — Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter — are transforming the way people, business and certainly advertising communicate.  Hard copy communication channels are a thing of the past; our world is now a viral operation. Logging on while on the clock is corporate America’s most publicized controversy and some employers should re-consider the benefits of the web before enforcing a ban.

Social networking is no longer just a “hobby.”  It’s become a vital organ of the world in which we live, work and play. However, more than half of employers across the nation have banned access to social media in the workplace. Obviously, employers think it’s a bad idea to take advantage of your social networking savvy employees to positively promote your business for FREE. Did I mention FREE promotion? Facebook alone has over 350 million members who could potentially see, hear and interact with your company. Capitalizing on this technology now, may help ease companies into the digital transition to come.

“In today’s difficult business environment, the instinctive reaction can be to batten down the hatches and return to the traditional command-and-control techniques that enable managers to closely monitor and measure productivity. Allowing workers to have more freedom and flexibility might seem counter-intuitive, but it appears to create businesses more capable of maintaining stability,” said Peter Bradwell, a Demos researcher.

In other words, be a lover, not a fighter.

Employers should consider options on how to incorporate social networking into daily work priorities to benefit their company. While here at Pavone, social networking for personal use is not permitted during work hours, we’re encouraged to use it to positively promote the agency. The agency itself is an active participant in Twitter and Facebook, in fact our latest post includes our holiday e-card.

Face it, this generation is like no other and social networking is here to stay. Knowing that, social networking at work should be a trained, monitored and encouraged activity.  Its capabilities should never be questioned because you shouldn’t question a good thing. After all, we’re living in a digital world and it’s about time companies learn to live there too.

I’ve been on a bit of Twitter kick lately, but it’s the social medium du jour so I guess it’s understandable. I’ve noticed a lot of celebrities Twittering away the hours which leads me to believe that social media usage is either really high among Hollywood types (and they have lots of time on their hands) or many of these tweeting stars are fakes. Both are sort of correct.

The Twitter Fan Wiki has compiled a whole list of phony celeb twitterati, which span the big screen, small screen, stage, radio, books, politics and even fictional characters (I guess you had to assume the latter were fakes.) Here’s a compendium of just a few imposters, some of whom have attracted hoards of followers who were duped into thinking they were receiving tweets from the real thing:

Sarah Palin (Former GOP VP Candidate, Governor of Alaska) – “Palin 2013!”

Osama Bin Laden (elusive terrorist mastermind) – “Still pissed about Saddam”

Pee Wee Herman (comedian, cultural icon) – “Aaaaaahh!”

Chuck Norris (lethal weapon) – (Though he may welcome all comers in real life, Norris is rather guarded on Twitter and has opted to protect his updates from those not pre-approved by him.)

David Hasselhoff (TV star, “The Hoff”) – “Deciding which leather jacket to wear”

Santa Claus (the nice one) – “Words cannot express just how much the elves LOVE reading your twitter posts.”

Santa Claus (the not-so-nice one) – “elves are driving me fucking nuts”

The USA (global superpower) -”Got $787 Billion in my pocket and it’s almost the weekend. Who wants to party?”

Gunnery Sgt. Hartman (fictional character, the only real reason to watch Full Metal Jacket) – “I AM A FICTIONAL CHARACTER, I EXIST FOR ENTERTAINMENT, MAGGOT.”

Eric Cartman (cartoon character, the only real reason to watch South Park) – “A hippie and a terrorist is the same thing.”

Uranus (celestial body) – “So you think my name is funny? You suck.”

Stewie Griffin (cartoon character, Family Guy star) – “Lois is washing my hair”

The LOST island (island…on LOST) – “I will be confusing the fuck out of you all soon.”

Darth Vader (Jedi hater, Lord of the dark side, Luke’s dad) -”Note to @Alyssa_Milano – Tony Danza is not the boss. I am.”

Satan (CEO of Hell) -”all my stocks are rising”

Global Warming (environmental phenomenon, the only thing keeping Al Gore relevant) -”Sadly, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite launch failed. The OCO would have measured CO2 in the atmosphere. http://tr.im/gJce”

Okay, so they’re not all funny or even entertaining (there’s a lot of wasted comic potential with global warming), but you get the idea. A lot of real celebrities have taken to calling out the fakes, but it doesn’t seem to have slowed the growth of the faux star twitters… at least until the long arm of  the law (or Chuck Norris) shuts them down.

Ashton Kutcher — a.k.a. “that dude from Punk’d,” a.k.a. “Mr. Demi Moore,” a.k.a. “that guy you sometimes want to punch in the throat” — has made social media history by becoming the first Twitter user to surpass one million followers. He topped a mil late last night after a very public competition with CNN to see who would be the first to reach the milestone.

According to reports, when the win became official, Kutcher was surrounded by his wife, Demi Moore (567,824 followers), Soleil Moon “Punky Brewster” Frey (no idea because I can’t find her account), and Sean “Diddy” Combs (549,616 followers) via phone. CNN actually lead earlier yesterday after making several on-air pleas for Twitter love, but lost by just 1,200 followers.

To put Kutcher’s accomplishment in perspective, consider this: Miley Cyrus has 285,125 followers, Barack Obama has 844,608 followers (and hasn’t tweeted squat since the inauguration), Shaq has 666,339 followers, and Britney Spears has 965,361 followers. It’s worth noting that Oprah has just over 87,000 followers, though she only started tweeting one hour ago (seriously! she mentioned her fledgling twittering efforts on her show today). At that rate, she should pass 1,000,000 shortly after dinner.

It’s also worth noting that God has only 14,684 followers, despite His regular tweets about a hunky Jesus contest in San Fransisco and ridiculous technology (“A battery-powered battery charger! WTF!”). His son has managed just 4,222 followers. I hear he’s more of a Facebook guy anyhow.

Social media has its benefits, but it can have its flaws too.

Twitter is known for its quick feed of information. If your followers are large enough, it can be a good way to promote yourself or your company. But it can back fire. CNN’s Rick Sanchez felt this pain recently when hackers claimed his log-in and password. Once inside Sanchez’s account, the cyber bullies sent a tweet from the news anchor’s account to his nearly 40,000 followers saying “i am high on crack right now might not be coming in to work today.” Ouch. 

As users, we have to be careful to avoid not only hackers but phishing scams that trick you into providing your vital information. Facebook has recently faced its own round of virus sharing thanks to Koobface.  Even yours truly has fell for this trick.  Thankfully, Pavone has  a great IT department in the form of Dave Pender, who is adept at righting these wrongs and minimizing the damage.

The point is, be safe. If it looks funny, don’t click it. If you do go to a site, make sure you look at the address bar to ensure it’s the actual site not a shell set up to gather personal information. Social networks show the world who you are and what you do. You want to be sure to control what your network sees, so you want to be careful with who can access it. These scams and viruses can provide a different impression than the one you carefully crafted — even if you really are high on crack and can’t make it to work.