Ferrum Technology Services Blog

Another eleventh-hour spending bill passed through the U.S. Congress and was signed into law on March 23, 2018. This time, however, there was a certain earmark that may work to erode individual privacy protection around the globe. The new law, called the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (or CLOUD) Act, amends the Stored Communications Act of 1986 and gives unelected American officials extensive powers over global digital privacy rights.

Social media has an interesting place in the business world, sitting somewhere between incredibly helpful and downright dangerous for your organization. It’s important that you consider how your business is affected by social media so that you can both leverage it to your advantage and minimize the risks associated with it.

How can you use automation technology to leverage profitability and efficiency for your business? Whereas in the past, automating your company’s day-to-day processes seemed out of reach for SMBs, today’s automation technologies are easily accessible. To help you get started with automating crucial aspects of your business, we recommend looking into these three technologies.

Social media is so popular that it feels like almost everybody uses it. If you’ve ever thought this, then a new study by communications agency We Are Flint confirms this suspicion. While there are several benefits to having more people connected via social media, the popularity of the technology can make it challenging to keep your employees on task.

In the study, it was found that a whopping 84 percent of adults use social media, and two-thirds of these users take advantage of social media on a daily basis. Other statistics from the study are equally eye-opening:

• YouTube is the most commonly used social media site at 85 percent, while Facebook trails it at 78 percent.
• As for daily uses, people use Facebook (59 percent), WhatsApp (28 percent), and YouTube (27 percent) most commonly.
• Young people (18-29 years old) still use mostly Facebook and YouTube at 92 percent and 96 percent accordingly.

Anybody familiar with the social media phenomenon shouldn’t be surprised by these figures. Although, what’s alarming are the results of a survey by People Per Hour where it was found just how much time people spend using social media--while at work!

• Five percent of men and 11 percent of women spend over 45 minutes of every hour using social media sites while in the workplace.
• 54 percent of workers post Facebook updates from the office.
• Meanwhile, only five percent of workers have ever received warnings regarding their use of social media at work.

Is this employee abuse of social media a problem in your office? You may not think it is, but these statistics say otherwise. At the very least, this should be an issue that you’re aware of. Also, if you have good reason to suspect that it’s a problem, then you should address it with your staff so they know your feelings about social media.

As far as how much time is too much time for an employee to spend on social media while at work, that is a figure for you to set as the business owner. It’s important to keep in mind that some positions may require the use of social media, like when it comes to marketing. Also, some workers may be skilled at managing their social media use in such a way that it doesn’t interfere with their work (and it may even enhance their productivity), while social media may be problematic in the hands of other employees that lack self-control.

Social Media allows businesses to share their brand with the outside world in entirely new ways. While the benefit of social media is that everyone and their mother is on it, the problem with social media is that everyone and their mother is on it. People put all sorts of information on their accounts, which translates into a major security risk in the form of targeted phishing attacks.

If you’re the CEO of a mass media organization, you should know intimately well how brutal a hacking attack could be for your reputation. This happened to Tim Armstrong, the CEO of AOL. His Twitter account was posting 20 spam-filled tweets every second. As you can imagine, this is a problem for any business that wants to take itself seriously.

More often than not, when you’re using your smartphone for streaming media, you want to use your Wi-Fi rather than your mobile data connection. This helps to keep what are known as data hogs (applications that use a significant portion of your monthly allotted data) from breaking your budget and causing overage charges. Here’s how you can limit the damage done to your data consumption by your favorite smartphone apps.

Employees who are addicted to social media is a problem for modern businesses. Despite the professional networking benefits of social media, it can be a major distraction and time-waster. Before you lock down all social media websites on your network, you should first try to understand why humans have such a hard time leaving social media alone.

Technology is everywhere. Coincidentally, that is exactly where every political candidate wants to be. With the 24/7 news cycle and social media leading the charge, technology has become one of the most important aspects of election season. The lead-up to any election is a tense time for the candidates, and for their supporters. With public arguments being had about different philosophies, ideologies, and platforms, it’s important to understand how today’s candidates handle technology while on the campaign trail.

It’s a known fact that social media is a great asset for the modern business owner to leverage, but you wouldn’t believe how often it’s misconstrued as a waste of time. In fact, social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and even YouTube, are so commonplace nowadays in the business world that your organization could fall behind others that properly utilize them. Facebook, in particular, is a powerful tool that can be used for online networking purposes.

Regardless of how much interaction you get on your company’s social media pages, you want more. You want to be like one of those big corporations that get a ton of hits and likes. But did you know that not even major corporations get a lot of views?

One California restaurant owner has recently taken on an interesting marketing strategy that goes against all conventional wisdom. Co-owner David Cerretini of the Italian restaurant Botto Bistro tells his strategy to USA Today, "I want to be the worst restaurant in the San Francisco area!" Strangely enough, his approach seems to be working.

The point of all these cool smartphones is to make life easier, improve productivity, and communication, but how sure are you that these devices are making things better? One restaurant did a study where they looked at their business both before and after the smartphone revolution. Their findings may make you lose your appetite for mobile technology.

LinkedIn is not only useful for the unemployed, but is also a great tool for business owners to connect with one-another. In general, social media can be a wonderful tool to grow your business. But Facebook might be a bit too social for some to take seriously, and Twitter is really only great for short announcements due to their tweet character limit. LinkedIn remains as one of the more purely work-related social media outlets. By utilizing LinkedIn as a business tool, you can jumpstart the way your company communicates both internally and externally.

Mobile devices give you the ability to always be connected with the virtual world. It may seem like this is great for productivity because you feel like more work is getting done; but could it be that constant connectivity is wearing us down? In light of the stresses caused from being connected, it's good to unplug and recharge your brain.

What's a #hashtag? One recent addition to popular culture is the use of hashtags. Every time you look at a flier, watch the news, or talk with a teenager, you'll be exposed to different and confusing hashtags. What are hashtags anyway? What's their function? How can they help your social media marketing efforts? #readmore