A couple of weeks ago a new study revealed a little more than half of all U.S. companies ban social networking sites from company computers. That means no Twittering, no updating your Facebook status and no job hunting on LinkedIn.

From the Computerworld article:

According to a study commissioned by Robert Half Technology, an IT staffing firm, 54% of U.S. companies say that they have banned workers from using social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace while on the job. The study also found that 19% of companies allow social networking use only for business purposes, while 16% allow limited personal use. Only 10% of the 1,400 CIOs interviewed said that their companies allow employees full access to social networks during work hours.

Yet with more companies turning to social networking sites for business purposes, is this policy too extreme? Spirit Telecom recently launched its social media campaign and encourages employees to interact with it. But, there’s a fine line.

Most businesses would agree they can’t possibly afford to have employees playing on Facebook and MySpace all day or reading tweets from the 2,000 people they are following on Twitter. So, here are some suggestions for making the most of social networking without becoming too “big brother.”

• If you don’t want to allow social networking sites on all employee computers, consider having one or two with open access. Or give certain employees who are managing the company’s social networking initiatives access to the sites.
• Establish a policy. Make sure employees understand what’s expected of them. Yes, you don’t mind if they spend a few minutes on Facebook or Twitter helping promote the company, but they shouldn’t be accessing their personal accounts.
• Pay attention. It should be obvious pretty quickly if an employee is spending several hours a day on social networking sites. You’ll notice missed deadlines and diminished productivity. At that point, you can address the situation with the employee.

What is your company policy? Do you allow employees to access social networking sites? If so, has it been a problem?