The research discovered that over half of the working population spend approximately half an hour browsing sites such as Facebook during work hours. However, only 14% of those polled conceded that their social networking habits made them less productive at work, with a defiant 10% insisting that time spent checking the activities of friends online actually enhanced their production levels.

The British employment website which carried out the study believes that such behaviour is a serious detriment to companies' efforts to bolster their productivity, especially in a time of continued economic uncertainty.

Although the majority of offenders were those whose work necessitated their presence online, it is feared that the issue will only get worse with internet access reaching levels of ubiquity in society through the availability of the internet of mobile phones.

In light of this critique of social media usage at work, it seems that the next news story may be the widespread prohibition of such sites at work. Indeed, some larger companies have opted to provide internal internet cafés for their workers in order to quench their browsing needs during breaks.

However, the poll also demonstrated that 68% of workers advocated some form of internet access throughout the working day, with only one third of those questioned desiring a ban on sites such as Flickr, YouTube, and Facebook during work time.

This research will likely come as no surprise to many, especially those reading this very article on their computer at work. The social media obsession sees no limitations workforce optimisation . In today's society in which internet access is obligatory, it is no shock to learn that the temptation of Facebook & co. cannot be resisted between 9 and 5.

For many UK SEO and social media experts, this research only confirms what they have known for a long time. The penetration of social networking is reaching deeper into our everyday lives, forming a significant part of our collective psyche, and providing the almost exclusive symbol of the Zeitgeist.