The Ragan Report posted the article “Poll: Fear drives managers to ban social media at work” today. The author cites a recent poll that shows managers, and not IT folks, often block social media sites because they’re afraid productivity would suffer if employees were allowed to visit sites like Facebook and Flickr, read blogs or watch streaming video.

Shel Holtz (not to be confused with author and “Friend of ‘Where Do You Stand’” Shel Israel) is quoted throughout the article. Holtz recently launched the Stop Blocking campaign to end social media blackouts at organizations. My favorite quote:

“The idea of a work/life balance is pretty much dead among knowledge workers in the country — work/life balance being a clear balance between ‘I was at work and now I’m done,’” Holtz explained. “The replacement is the idea of work/life integration, which means that if you’re going to expect me to work while I’m at home then you damn well better be prepared to let me live a little bit of my life while I’m at work.”

It’s nice to work for a company that actively embraces social media as a key communication tool. Do you know of anybody who works for a company that has banned access to social media sites? Has it happened to you? It would be interesting to hear how such a ban has impacted work, either positively or negatively.