Don’t be a social media outcast

If you aren’t poking, tweeting or using some other form of social media at the office, you are now officially in the minority.

In a survey of more than 800 employed Canadians conducted by Leger Marketing, two-thirds (66%) said they use social media at work, with the most popular forms being YouTube and Facebook/MySpace — including daily Facebook visits by at least a quarter of those under the age of 45. Half of workers 64 or older have also gone social, preferring sites that post users’ travel advice.

“Web 2.0 technologies in the workplace have crossed the generational divide, and they’re here to stay,” says Giselle Kovary, managing partner of HR consulting firm n-gen People Performance, which commissioned the study. “We expect that the use of these new media tools will continue to increase as more employers see the potential for collaboration and learning, and begin to relax the rules for surfing at work.”