The key here is what folks do FROM A WORK PC. What you do from home, with your personal PC and your personal e-mail (as long as you don't say financially sensitive stuff) is on you. I've heard of folks from any number of firms who bring in a personal laptop to play on Facebook, Twitter, and whatever during the day. And that's fine by me.

As long as we live in the most litigious country in the world, and as long as there is money to be made from folks NOT being responsible for themselves, restrictions like this will have their place.

Awesome commentary here that has given me a LOT to think about! Wow!

There is alot to like in this blog post.

Depending upon what you do, monitoring your employee's social media information can be very valuable. My wife worked for the YMCA where access was blocked which meant that the managers hiring staff could not do research on prospective employees such as checking their Myspace pages. The last thing you want is a camp counselor who has a myspace page with questionable content that might be viewed by campers or their parents.

I think allowing it at work is like allowing the internet. Everything must be done in moderation. I personally use Twitter search to find many things related to my job and what I am working on. This would not be possible with just a general Google search.

Common sense is neither is the old saying.

Yes, you're right about respecting your employer. Folks these days have nowhere near the appreciation I believe previous generations had for their job and their employer. I've gotten new found respect for mine lately.

Who the heck said Internet access should be a right anyway?

People need to respect their employers – they are paying your salaries, hopefully your health insurance, etc. They deserve to get the services they are paying for. Unfortunately there are a few folks lacking a common sense gene and end up doing foolish things. It's a shame that an entire workplace needs to suffer for the mistakes of a few.