Employees ''need social network training''

Employees who use social networks to communicate internally and externally should be given adequate training.

According to web security firm Trend Micro, this should not involve arranging sessions in a meeting room once a year, but should come in the form of short bursts of information.

Imparting knowledge in this way keeps it fresh and allows the training to evolve in line with the technology, which is being used in a growing number of workplaces.

However, in-house research carried out by the firm found that although many organisations recognise the benefit of social network communications, few offer advice on how to use it effectively.

Solutions architect Rik Ferguson remarked: "It should be regular, small message-based training, maybe a ''tip of the day'' email in the inbox."

He was reacting to a survey carried out by researcher Tamar, which found that more people are using social network search tools since they were introduced to Google and Bing last year.

Some 47 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds have checked these results while surfing. Back