Federal agencies appear to be lifting bans on the use of social media tools in the workplace. Only 19 percent of federal workers, compared to 55 percent in 2010, say they are affected by bans on social media at work, according to a survey of 352 federal workers conducted by research company Market Connections.

In the past year, social media use was more readily adopted as an official means of communication, as well. Thirty-seven percent of federal workers said they are permitted to use social media as representatives of their agency. Last year just 9 percent were permitted to do so, finds the survey. Thirty-three percent said they were premitted to use it in an official capacity but with restrictions, compared to 25 percent last year.

Yet, despite greater access to social media platforms and a willingness to let federal employees engage, respondents said there are challenges to using social media at their departments and agencies. The biggest problems, cited by 41 percent, are internal governance and legal issues. Almost the same number of respondents, 40 percent, said they found it difficult to align a social media strategy with the agency's mission, and 31 percent said they were unable to assess the return on investment of social media efforts.

Despite these stumbling blocks, many federal workers see merit in social media use. All federal workers using social media said the technology informs their decision making. Respondents said blogs were the most useful decision making tools, followed by non-government-specific social networks, Wikis and government-specific social networks.

Eighty-one percent said social media is useful for communicating externally with citizens and other agencies and organizations--slightly more than the 78 percent who said it was helpful for communicating internally among colleagues. Meanwhile, only 64 percent and 61 percent of federal respondents said it was useful for research/information gathering or promotion/marketing, respectively.

The results of a September 2011 survey were shared at an Oct. 18 event and in a press release; the full results of the survey will be publicly available in early November, said the company.

For more:
- see the press release

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