Web 2.0

Today Andrea began a discussion on the viability of social networking applications in the workplace. She mentioned that some younger workers (who apparently have very understanding parents and student loan servicers) are turning down jobs or quitting because these firms do not allow/have access to the various preferred social networking sites.

Matt's idea was that if they are that concerned, they probably aren't a good employment risk anyway.

I have a slightly different perspective.

I, too, have a slightly cynical perspective on workers just entering the workforce, but when I stop to think about it (I have two sisters who are recent additions to Productive America) I find that I'm probably wrong. Instead of knee-jerk rejection of social networking sites, a better path would be to isolate and identify what aspects of the social networking sites are so indispensible that it would cause someone to quit or be unhappy and unproductive.

People's behavior is always driven toward needs-satisfaction. Identifying the needs that are being satisfied by social networking sites can help companies understand their workers, make decisions about what is good for the work environment and what isn't, and generally better shape and use the Web 2.0 applications.

Even crazy people act logically... just maybe not *your* logic!