Social media and technical writers

The blogging world is abuzz with the rising popularity of social media and the way it's gonna change documentation. Microblogging sites such as Twitter and networking sites such as Facebook are expected to change documentation in a revolutionary manner.

There are predictions galore about the impending demise of printed manuals and the inevitable replacement of them with blogs, wikis, and social media (I feel this a very narrow view of how documentation would evolve/ Let us wait and see). Remember Naipaul when he said that the novel is dead.

How useful is social media to technical writers in India? I feel it is a depressing zero. Most companies in Indian restrict access to sites such as Twitter during work hours. Certain companies even block access to webmail and prevents installation of chat software. Others even go to extent of blocking internet access during work hours, ostensibly to increase productivity. In others, even blogs and forums, which I think are more useful to technical writers, are simply blocked.

Therefore, social media becomes useful for only those who have unrestricted access to the internet. For the hapless technical writers, there is nothing to gain from social media while at work.