Businesses say virtual friends bring value

If you have a love-hate relationship with Facebook and Twitter, you have plenty of company.

A new survey shows most businesses see big value in marketing online through social-networking websites, even as they remain leery of potential pitfalls including reduced worker productivity, malicious-software assaults and reputation damage.

Online-antivirus provider Panda Security polled 315 U.S. businesses with 1,000 or fewer employees and found that 78 percent of them use social networking online to drive image-building, improve customer service and directly generate sales. That's despite social network-related perils such as malware, which 33 percent said they've fallen prey to, and identity theft, which 23 percent reported experiencing. Nearly 40 percent also pointed to productivity loss as employees took time away from their jobs to visit their personal social-networking pages.

"Social media is now ubiquitous among (small and medium-sized businesses) because of its many obvious benefits, yet these tools don't come without serious risks," said Luis Corrons, technical director at PandaLabs in Orlando, Fla. "Awareness and education on the proper use of these social networks is essential to take full advantage of the community."

Added Jeff Grace, president and chief executive officer of local technology consulting firm NetEffect: "It really comes down to two things. One is learning how to actually use social media to get appreciable benefits, and second is learning how to mitigate your risk."

Panda's survey found plenty of potential social-networking risks for small and medium-sized businesses to mitigate. Top among companies' worries: Loss of privacy and data, which concerned 74 percent of respondents. Malware infection came in second, with 69 percent ranking it as a concern. Sixty percent cited employee productivity losses as a key worry, while 50 percent said reputation damage could be a problem. Network performance and use problems rounded out the roster of issues, with 29 percent.

Many of those potential threats speak directly to the local law firm of Jolley Urga Wirth Woodbury & Standish.

The firm doesn't have a presence on Facebook or any other social-networking site, mostly because of concerns about corporate image and Internet security, said Bill Spohrer, director of administration. It's just too easy for people to trash businesses or associates on networking sites, and such media are "notorious breeding grounds for malicious code," Spohrer said.

The firm has also installed programs to control employee access to personal social-media pages online, both to keep bandwidth free and productivity up.

But Jolley Urga's managers say they know it's time to reconsider joining Facebook, if only to keep up with the competition.

"We're gradually coming around to thinking a lot of our clients do use Facebook, and when they do their due diligence (looking for a firm), they might go to a website like that," Spohrer said.

At least two local businesses say companies such as Jolley Urga have little to fear from social media.

The Howard Hughes Corp. leans heavily on Facebook to connect residents of its Summerlin community to the developer, to each other and to potential neighbors.

Consider the Facebook query from an out-of-towner who wrote on Summerlin's page seeking recommendations on the ideal area restaurant for dinner with her grandmother. The outreach generated tens of responses in a matter of hours, said Nikkole Leisse, marketing director for The Howard Hughes Corp. And then there was the East Coaster considering relocation to either Green Valley or Summerlin. She elicited a flood of positive feedback after she posted on the community's page asking why she should opt for Summerlin.

"We've seen nothing but really positive things come out of social media," said Liesse, who added that she hasn't heard of any issues involving curbed employee productivity or malicious-code infections, though staffers are allowed to view personal pages at work. "It truly is the way of the world. It's not going away, and it behooves every business to embrace it."

Energy-drink maker Xyience uses Facebook and Twitter to communicate with customers and alert them to upcoming marketing appearances. John Villari, interactive and creative director for the Las Vegas company, said social networks don't replace or even compare with live appearances, but the online media supplement the company's promotions. In six months, Xyience's fan following on Facebook jumped from 500 to 10,000, giving the business a growing channel for direct conversation with its most avid consumers.

For Xyience, social networking thus far has been practically all positive, Villari said. People posting negative comments on the company's Facebook page? Yeah, that's happened, but the feedback allowed the company to spot distribution holes and get its products to fans who couldn't find them in their area. Malware coming in through the sites? Hasn't happened yet, Villari said. And how about employee productivity slumping as workers check their personal Facebook pages? Also not a problem so far.

"It's been a tremendous upside. It's critically important to the growth of our company," Villari said. "We have yet to feel any negative connotations in social networking, at least in our realm."

Still, companies do need to protect themselves from the perils of social networking, Grace said.

He urges his clients to start with formal policies and an accompanying educational program to define appropriate Internet use for employees.

"Employees typically welcome that education. They want to stay out of trouble, and they're hugely embarrassed when they get their computer infected with viruses or malware," he said.

But dodging malicious codes and other e-threats isn't about mere education, Grace added. Companies considering launching or expanding a social-media presence should fall back on software programs that block or filter harmful bugs.

Open those two fronts -- education and software barriers -- in a social networking campaign, Grace said, and the "risk is overwhelmingly worth the potential reward."

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512.