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The Pros and Cons of Socialising Online

One thing that the COVID-19 crisis has thrown into sharp relief is the importance of socialising at work. As more workers have been told to avoid their offices and to stay at home to work, it has become increasingly clear that workers need some kind of social interaction in order to stay motivated and to get on effectively with the tasks in hand. With this in mind, it’s now becoming obvious that socialising has a more important role to play in the workplace than many of us imagined.

The Socialising Problem

With the increase in the number of employees now working remotely, the issue of socialising has slowly risen to the fore. Something that many workers take for granted is the sense of community they get from coming into the office each day. When that is taken away from them, they start to recognise just how much they rely on talking to others and sharing information on a daily basis.

Remote working simply cannot offer the same kind of interpersonal experience. There’s no one to chat with at the coffee machine or the water cooler, and there’s no in-person meetings where ideas can be shared. Working from home can be surprisingly lonely. It’s no wonder, then, that workers are looking for alternative ways to communicate with each other, to forge connections and to share ideas that don’t involve physically getting together in person – something which has proven to be impossible in the current pandemic climate.

Socialising Online – The Go-To Option

Workers have increasingly been obliged during the COVID-19 crisis to socialise online, and this has its own pros and cons. While the advantage is that workers can still communicate with each other, there is a lack of interpersonal connection and of the intimacy that can be achieved by sharing a physical space. Online connections also lack the authenticity of a face-to-face encounter. It’s all-too-easy to misunderstand the tone of a message or to read too much into a comment that has been made. It’s also very easy to accidentally offend someone or to give the wrong impression. With no visual context, it can be virtually impossible to determine the meaning of certain statements, and thoughtfulness and understanding can go out of the window.

Yet, there are many benefits too. Socialising online helps remote workers avoid the loneliness that comes with being away from the physical workspace. It opens up avenues of communication and allows for the sharing of ideas and expression of opinions with a broad spectrum of other people. The key, though, is knowing how to use those social platforms safely and effectively.

The Importance of Effectively Using Online Social Spaces

Knowing how to use social spaces online effectively is paramount to maximising the potential that they can offer, both in a personal and business sense. Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest are just some of the platforms that can be harnessed to connect with others and share things over the internet. Yet, it’s also vital to know how to control access to your information and how to remain safe in this world of potential cybercrime.

To find out more about how you can harness the potential of social networks to your advantage, the BEC Digital Upskill Programme offers a Socialising Online webinar to help.

This webinar will be delivered by Make It Click and Google.org, and will be facilitated by the BEC using guided learning.

Book your place today and begin to see the benefits for yourself.

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