People use Facebook to stay in touch with far-off friends, to look at photo albums of a recent family wedding or vacation, or (let’s be honest) to just procrastinate. We associate Facebook more with the word “downtime” than with the word “productivity.” In fact, half of the world’s CEOs completely prohibit the use of social media at work. It may be time, however, to rethink the relationship between Facebook and productivity.
A new infographic from Keas.com entitled “The Case for Facebook” shows that Facebook can actually inspire productivity in employees. Keas points to a study by the Academy of Management exploring whether allowing people to surf the web while working is beneficial or detrimental to productivity levels. Employees were divided into three groups: a control group (which received no breaks), a rest-break group (in which people could take breaks but not use the internet), and an internet-browsing group (people could take 10 minutes to browse the internet and Facebook). The findings were a shock. Internet browsers were 16% more productive than the rest-break group and 39% more productive than the control group. Internet browsers further reported a reduction in mental exhaustion and boredom and more psychological engagement.
What do experts make of the study’s results? Dr. Brent Coker of the Department of Management and Marketing at the University of Melbourne says that, “short and unobtrusive breaks, such as a quick surf on the Internet, enables the mind to rest itself, leading to a higher net total concentration for a day’s work, and as a result, increased productivity.” The CNY Business Journal also weighed in, referring to studies in which employees suggest that web surfing at work makes them more productive by providing “an easy way to escape the pressures of the day.”
This study, along with others, gives some insight into the fact that we may be selling Facebook, and social media in general, a little short. Facebook has the potential to boost not only productivity but also happiness. The Keals.com infographic reveals that a person can be positively effected by the happiness of those up to three degrees removed from them in a social network. Also, each additional friend increases the chance of being happy by nine percent.
There are many paths to happiness and productivity, and now it seems Facebook may be counted among them.
Olivia Roat is a reporter for GoStrengths, a site dedicated to increasing the happiness of parents, teachers, and children.
