Employees at nearly a third of UK companies are unable to access social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter during office hours – according to new research conducted by Clearswift.

They found that the incidence of firms blocking access to social media in the past year has increased by a fifth, with over half of managers identifying the medium as a cause for concern.

The internet security company found that these concerns centred on recent high profile hacking incidents, such as the loss of customer data from Sony’s PlayStation Network, which have prompted the clampdown.

Andrew Wyatt, chief operating officer at Clearswift, said: “Social networking sites often have little to do with data-loss incidents, but they have become guilty by association, because they are seen as having an impact on a company’s brand.”

Some businesses such as moneysupermarket.com were found to be issuing new guidelines to staff on proper online conduct whilst some, such as Royal Dutch Shell, simply bar employees from accessing sites such as Facebook altogether.

Typically this will display a pop up screen reminding staff not to use personal sites during business hours.
Pharmaceuticals giant Bayer were recently reprimanded for promoting prescription medicines to the public via its Twitter account.