In today's world, popular social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are without a doubt the best way to stay connected with friends and share what is happening right now.

But, a new survey has revealed that the popular sites are actually costing British businesses 1.38 billion pounds a year in wasted time.

In fact, according to the survey, more than half of office workers use the social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook for personal use during the working day, and admit wasting an average of 40 minutes a week each.

One in three of the 1,460 office workers surveyed also said they had seen sensitive company information posted on social networking sites, leading to fears about how workers use the Internet, 'The Daily Telegraph' reported.

Three quarters of the office workers surveyed said their employer had not given them any specific guidelines on how to use Twitter, but 84 per cent believed it should be up to them what they post online.

Philip Wicks, consultant at Morse, the IT services and technology company which commissioned the survey, said the true cost to the economy could be substantially higher than the 1.38 billion pounds estimate.

"When someone is asked for their own use they say around 40 minutes a week, but when asked about their colleagues they say they say up to an hour a day. We have used the lower of those figures rather than the high point.

"It is the sort of thing people constantly use which means that its not quite the same as doing a crossword, where you spend half an hour on it and it is finished. When it comes to an office environment the use of these sites is clearly becoming a productivity black hole.

... contd.