Nearly three-quarters of social media users admit to checking their accounts during business meetings, a survey has revealed.
The results, compiled by LondonOffice.com, show that a staggering 71 percent of workers would be happy to check in with their pals on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram while conducting a meeting with co-workers.
While some of the respondents, those who worked in media for instance, said that being constantly connected was part of their role, it’s hard to imagine the necessity of a management consultant putting hipster filters on yesterday’s brunch.
A spokesperson for LondonOffice.com said that increased use of social media was leading to workers feeling “out of the loop” when away from their gadgets.
“Social media is playing a bigger role in our lives, not just in our personal lives but at work too. We have become accustomed to having live news updates at our fingertips so it's only natural we begin to feel ‘out of the loop’ much quicker than we used to.”
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They further said that more accessible smart technology was partly to blame for the rise.
“The rise in the numbers of smartphones has made our social media channels much more accessible. We no longer need to sit in front of the computer to become updated. Now we have platforms such as Facebook and Twitter quite literally in the palm of our hands.”
“Many employers may view this as a headache but in some technology and marketing sectors, the use of social media in meetings is actively encouraged,” they added.
Thankfully, it would appear that Britain’s workforce are capable of exercising some restraint during undoubtedly very important meetings, with only 7 percent admitting to tweeting in a meeting, and 3 percent saying they had updated their Facebook status.
A reassuring 99 percent of respondents agreed they would draw the line at playing games during a meeting. However, this is probably bad news for Conservative MP Nigel Mills, who was caught playing Candy Crush during a Commons Select Committee.
One respondent said they became distracted when meetings were unnecessarily long.
“When a meeting drags on longer than it needs to, it's pretty hard to resist scrolling through your newsfeed under your desk.”
Another even admitted to lying to their boss.
“I've lied to my boss's face and said I was checking email when I was actually sending a selfie to my best friend via Snapchat.”