Sussex council staff’s 34 million hits for Facebook (From The Argus)
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Sussex council staff’s 34 million hits for Facebook
3:50pm Wednesday 27th February 2013 in News By Kimberly Middleton, Acting chief reporter
Council staff in Sussex view social networking website Facebook nearly 34 million times a year.
The ‘hits’ on the social networking website are among the top websites viewed by staff from East Sussex County Council, West Sussex County Council and Brighton and Hove City Council last year.
Bosses at the three councils all said they encourage staff to use Facebook to communicate with the public.
Brighton and Hove City Council, where Facebook was the third most viewed site with more than 15million hits, said: “BHCC actively encourages staff to make use of modern media in disseminating messages about our services, monitoring comments and feedback from citizens and professional networking, so Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are also found high on the list.
“The use of social media such as Facebook is becoming a bigger part of everyday business for many organisations.”
Instruction and information
Explaining why there were 3.9million hits on video website YouTube, the council said it contains a “large number of instructional and informational videos on all manner of subjects” that could be relevant to the work of staff, and companies also use the website as a method of communication.
West Sussex County Council, where staff logged on to Facebook 9,868,879 times, said: “The use of social media to keep people informed is becoming increasingly important, and several county council services use websites such as Facebook and Twitter as a means of communicating with residents and customers.”
Assistant chief executive Simon Hughes at East Sussex County Council, where Facebook was viewed 8,488,704 times, said: “As an authority, we have a clear policy on internet use, but like most organisations, we allow our staff to access the internet at work for personal use provided they do so in their own time and use it appropriately.
“It’s also worth pointing out that many council departments now use Facebook as a means of communicating with the public – including our popular Library and Information Service Facebook page – which would account for a large proportion of visits to that website, while websites such as Google and the BBC News may also be used for work purposes.”
Other popular websites included online shopping sites Amazon and Argos, which had more than 20million views, news websites and Google.
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Comments(18)
Omnishambles_1
says...
4:33pm Wed 27 Feb 13
Crystal Ball wrote:Says the guy posting comments on the Argus website ;)
Farcebook - what a load of rubbish.
Fight_Back
says...
4:38pm Wed 27 Feb 13
Even if the council employees 1000 people that more than 50 hits a day !!!! Surely only a small minority of staff need the access.
The council should put in web filtering and make it's employees more efficient. Maybe then we wouldn't need an increase in council tax.
kkj
says...
5:14pm Wed 27 Feb 13
fredaj
says...
5:34pm Wed 27 Feb 13
These people think we are stupid!
If council staff have time to spend half their day tarting around on the internet then the councils clearly have too much staff. Get shot of a third I'd say.
HJarrs
says...
5:42pm Wed 27 Feb 13
Fight_Back wrote:While I find Facebook and Twitter time wasters there is no doubt business is moving to using them. The large company I work for has now unblocked YouTube, Facebook and Twitter and has its own active sites. The world moves on...
Most companies block sites such as Facebook to employees who don't need it for their role. Those that do get access.
Even if the council employees 1000 people that more than 50 hits a day !!!! Surely only a small minority of staff need the access.
The council should put in web filtering and make it's employees more efficient. Maybe then we wouldn't need an increase in council tax.
NickBtn
says...
6:01pm Wed 27 Feb 13
nocando
says...
6:22pm Wed 27 Feb 13
Fight_Back
says...
6:37pm Wed 27 Feb 13
HJarrs wrote:The world does indeed move on but why does every council employee need access to these sites ?
Fight_Back wrote:While I find Facebook and Twitter time wasters there is no doubt business is moving to using them. The large company I work for has now unblocked YouTube, Facebook and Twitter and has its own active sites. The world moves on...
Most companies block sites such as Facebook to employees who don't need it for their role. Those that do get access.
Even if the council employees 1000 people that more than 50 hits a day !!!! Surely only a small minority of staff need the access.
The council should put in web filtering and make it's employees more efficient. Maybe then we wouldn't need an increase in council tax.
Morpheus
says...
7:14pm Wed 27 Feb 13
Idontbelieveit1948
says...
7:32pm Wed 27 Feb 13
Morpheus wrote:No, they can't even update their own website reliably !.
Does the council use Facebook to tell us when they have missed bin collections and when they will be coming round again?
Methinks much time is wasted here, but why is that a surprise to anyone where public service employees are concerned - after all the council tax payer can always stump up more as the Greens, ably supported by the Reds will soon prove.
Nosfaratu
says...
7:42pm Wed 27 Feb 13
rayellerton
says...
7:48pm Wed 27 Feb 13
HJarrs
says...
9:00pm Wed 27 Feb 13
rayellerton
says...
9:31pm Wed 27 Feb 13
Somethingsarejustwrong
says...
6:05am Thu 28 Feb 13
HJarrs wrote:What a fantastic insight, no wonder the Greens are making such a mess of Brighton's finances when people like HJarrs unofficially represents their voice!
There is no doubt in my mind that staff now need training in how to be effective in an age when we are bombarded by emails, texts, phone before we even get to social media. I have found this to be very helpful in increasing productivity and reducing stress levels. (Most) people are wired to be sociable and interact with others rather than put in 8 hours of drudgery, so it doesn't surprise me that so many get distracted.
Fight_Back
says...
1:23pm Thu 28 Feb 13
SomethingsarejustwroI'd suggest HJarrs is slightly more than an "unofficial" Green Party member !!!!
ng wrote:
HJarrs wrote:What a fantastic insight, no wonder the Greens are making such a mess of Brighton's finances when people like HJarrs unofficially represents their voice!
There is no doubt in my mind that staff now need training in how to be effective in an age when we are bombarded by emails, texts, phone before we even get to social media. I have found this to be very helpful in increasing productivity and reducing stress levels. (Most) people are wired to be sociable and interact with others rather than put in 8 hours of drudgery, so it doesn't surprise me that so many get distracted.
rayellerton
says...
10:31pm Thu 28 Feb 13
Crystal Ball says...
4:23pm Wed 27 Feb 13