A new study by by WorkPlace Media in the US, which polled office Internet users, found that 55% maintained at least one social networking account (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.). However, of those respondents only 43% reported accessing their social networking accounts at work, and even for those with access, 78% reported spending less than 30 minutes per day on their profile but almost 10% spent more than an hour. Considering a standard 8 hour working day – that’s still a considerable amount of time.

But 96% of respondents said their opinion of a product brand did not change if that brand had no presence on a social networking site, only 11% of social networking users reported following any major brand through a social networking site, and just 12% of respondents said their opinion of a brand changes if that brand maintains a social networking presence.

A recent Harris poll also suggested that word of mouth is a much stronger influencer than social networking with just 4% mentioned using “public online social-networking sites, such as Facebook, LinkedIn or MySpace.” Another 4% mentioned “private social networking sites, such as customer communities.”

Surprising results.