Scredible: 54% of American professionals say social networking is important to their careers

199IT original compilation

When the job search is over, social media still has a place in the workplace. According to a recent survey, social media plays a big role in the American workplace, and that role can be both positive and negative.

In May 2015, Scredible surveyed Internet users aged 20 to 45 who were full-time employees. Among American respondents, 54% said that social network profiles would be important to their careers in the next five years; in contrast, 26% of American respondents disagreed with this statement. American respondents were more convinced of the importance of social networks than British respondents, with 39% of British respondents saying that social network profiles would be important to their careers in the next five years, while 41% disagreed with this statement.

B2B salespeople aren’t the only ones taking advantage of social networks. In a May 2015 Allstate Corporation and National Journal survey of U.S. adult consumers on the importance of mastering social media to career success, 68% of respondents said it was somewhat (38%) or very (30%) important; in contrast, only 13% said it was not at all important.

In the Scredible survey, three-quarters of American professionals said that their social network profiles have a positive impact on their work reputation, and 57% of British respondents said so. However, if too much time is spent on social networks, it will also have a negative effect. 25% of American respondents said that they would not be too active on social networks because they were worried that social networks would play a negative role, and 1/5 of British respondents thought so.

Despite their belief that social networking is important in the workplace, most US respondents think that banning social media in the office is a good idea. But that's not the case for its potential negative effects. 38% of respondents think social networking should be banned because it's a distraction, while only 11% think it's because it can damage the company's reputation. 11% of respondents think banning social networking is a bad idea. Respondents in the UK were similar.

For American professionals, there’s a fine line between using social media to boost their careers and cause them to fail.

199IT.com Originally compiled from: eMarketer. Please do not reprint without authorization