Will social media breaks at work replace ‘smoko’?

People liking their way through the likes of Facebook and Instagram at work are causing problems for employers, prompting a push for social media breaks. But not everyone is impressed.

Office selfies and Instagrammed desk lunches could become the norm as ­social media breaks replace smokos.

As the tobacco haze fades outside offices, there is now a push to allow workers to tap into their mobile phones and other devices to trawl their ­social media.

While many employers have banned social media during work time, many staff are still liking their way through Facebook and Instagram.

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But opponents say there are ­already enough breaks to scan posts and upload pictures and it further eliminates the need for personal interaction.

According to last year's ­Yellow Social Media Report from Sensis, 35 per cent of ­respondents accessed social media at work.

Almost half were accessing their apps on breaks and 34 per cent checked social media more than five times a day.

Institute of Management WA chief executive officer Professor Gary Martin said social media trawling in work was on the rise, creating a problem for employers.

Employees checking their phones regularly were heavily distracted from their work, he said. Allocated opportunities to scan social media would get them more focused.

“Social media junkies will argue that not allowing them to check personal feeds during work time is unfair since they often attend to work-related emails and phone calls outside their regular working hours,” he writes in today’s Herald Sun.

“If we accept that blurring, we may see the old-fashioned but once frowned-upon smoko being replaced by the unofficially authorised — that is, not official nor prescribed, but ­generally accepted — personal social media breather.”

Australian Retailers Association executive director ­Russell Zimmerman said ­employees already enjoyed morning, lunch and — in some workplaces — afternoon breaks, and social media access should be confined to those.

“There is already reasonable amount of time for staff to look at their social media, and I don’t think employees can ­afford to go further and allow time for social media,” he said.

RMIT social and political sciences academic Professor Jenny Lewis said real-life ­interaction should be encouraged rather than a dedicated social media break where employees interact only with their devices.

“At least with the smoko you interacted with work ­colleagues. That’s the biggest drawback with social media, it encourages you not to do that,” Prof Lewis said.

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