OMG! Facebook Users are Voyeurs!

The latest Application Usage and Risk Report shows that when at work, Facebook users exhibit passive, voyeuristic usage patterns as opposed to a more active game playing or posting usage pattern. This activity pattern indicates that the “productivity loss associated with games or posting” is somewhat overblown. Inbound and outbound security risks DO exist, however, a non-productive employee is just that, non-productive; social networking is just one of the tools used to avoid work.

Categorically, an average of 5 different social networking applications (out of 51 total) were found in 95% of the 723 participating organizations. Facebook was the most commonly found at 96%. This near ubiquitous use of social networking contradicts the recent surveys touted in the press that show 50% or more of the organizations are blocking these applications. A 46% discrepancy far outside the margin of error and demonstrates the value of network analysis (reality) and survey data (perception).
Looking more closely at Facebook, shows the sheer dominance of Facebook. The four unique applications (Facebook, Facebook Posting, Facebook Apps and Facebook Social Plugins) consumed 78% of the total social networking bandwidth (3.9 TB). The remaining top four (Twitter, Stumbleupon, Linkedin and Myspace consumed a mere 7% with the remaining 43 social networking applications (continue reading...)