I am sorry I have to write this but it appears some of the leading technology journals are unable to agree on the difference between a ban and a block. If I didn’t know better, some editors might think the two verbs are synonyms.

On October 6, 2009, IT staffing firm Robert Half International released the results of an independent survey of 1,400 chief information officers that 54% of U.S. companies with 100 or more employees ban access to social networking sites.

From the press release:

CIOs were asked, “Which of the following most closely describes your company’s policy on visiting social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, while at work?” Their responses:

Prohibited completely – 54%

Permitted for business purposes only – 19%

Permitted for limited personal use – 16%

Permitted for any type of personal use – 10%

Don’t know/no answer – 1%

“Using social networking sites may divert employees’ attention away from more pressing priorities, so it’s understandable that some companies limit access,” said Dave Willmer, executive director of Rob