Twitter, Facebook cost British economy 1.38 billion pounds

According to a survey conducted by a British IT services and technology company, more than half of office workers use social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook for personal use during the working day and admit wasting an average of 40 minutes a week each, which costs British businesses 1.38 billion pounds a year.

Philip Wicks, consultant at Morse, the IT services and technology company which commissioned the survey, said the true cost to the economy could be substantially higher than the 1.38 billion pounds estimate.

"When someone is asked for their own use they say around 40 minutes a week, but when asked about their colleagues they say they say up to an hour a day. We have used the lower of those figures rather than the high point."

Three quarters of office workers surveyed said their employer had not given them any specific guidelines on how to use Twitter, but 84 per cent believed it should be up to them what they post online.

By People's Daily Online