Ireland’s business leaders are among the largest social media users in the country, according to a new report.
In a survey released today by law firm McCann Fitzgerald, people at the top of Irish businesses are much more likely to be active on social media than the average person.
The survey compiled by Amárach, which was conducted with 250 heads of business from large, various-sized companies, was to see what Irish companies’ outlook is in the coming year and their attitudes to digital and social media.
Begging the question what they get up to in their daily work, many top managers are some of the most active social media users in the country, with 75pc of those surveyed having a Facebook account and 40pc of these claiming to log on at least once a day.
These figures are higher than the general population of Ireland, with Facebook usage as a whole across the country at an estimated 55pc. While Facebook usage worldwide has decreased in the last year or two, Twitter, which has remained consistent in usage numbers, has almost twice as many business leaders with an account, at 50pc compared to 27pc.
Unsurprisingly, business social network LinkedIn is more popular with business users, as 14pc of those surveyed claim to log on daily, with a further 22pc claiming to log on once a week and 22pc report they access Google+ daily.
Despite this, companies are attempting to clamp down on staff’s use of social media during the day, with only 18pc of firms surveyed allowing staff all-day access, 48pc offering limited access, and 18pc of firms are still blocking staff access completely.
Social media in business
There also appears to be a growing understanding that social media can now be considered an integral part of a company’s business. The vast majority of firms, 63pc, expect social media to be relevant to their business in 2014.
A strategic digital plan has also been considered by more than 33pc of companies surveyed showing a greater investment in servers, high-speed broadband and cloud computing. IT skilled workers will be pleased to know also that there has been a 25pc increase in the hiring of staff for that sector and a fifth of SMEs have invested in cloud computing solutions.
Business and social media image via Shutterstock
