In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about Google’s rumored social networking website, why employee social media use might not be the best thing for businesses, and how identity thieves are ruining kids’ credit scores before they’re even old enough to have a credit card.

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British Survey: Social Media Use May Cause £14 Billion Loss in Productivity

According to a survey of 1,000 British employees by MyJobGroup, “two million people – or six per cent of Britain’s 34 million-strong workforce – admitted wasting more than an hour every day adding friends, uploading pictures and videos and tweeting.” This time spent on social media websites could be causing productivity losses of “£14 billion a year.” Besides lost productivity, unmonitored employee social media use could lead to company secrets ending up on the web. For these reasons, it is important for companies to establish effective social media policies for employees.

Identity Thieves Target Kids’ Social Security Numbers

According to an AP report, identity thieves are now targeting children’s social security numbers to set up fraudulent accounts in other people’s names. The article states that, “Hundreds of online businesses are using computers to find dormant Social Security numbers — usually those assigned to children who don’t use them — then selling those numbers under another name to help people establish phony credit and run up huge debts they will never pay off.” In the Internet age, even children need to have control over their personal data. Parents need to take responsibility to ensure their kids’ identities are protected online.

College Students Compare and Contrast Facebook and Possible Google Social Network

In this article from ABC News, college students discuss what they do and don’t like about Facebook. The article then explores how Google’s long-rumored social networking website could be a viable competitor to Facebook. Specifically, the students in the article cited Google’s ability to integrate products like GMail or YouTube directly into its social network as strong reasons why they might leave Facebook.

Failure of Google Wave Could Help Google Me

Speaking of Google’s social networking website, this article from ComputerWorld discusses how the demise of Google Wave (the project officially shut down yesterday) may actually help Google Me. Google is a company that learns from its mistakes. With Wave, Google didn’t do enough to explain why the product was useful or make it an essential web experience. Google’s failures on that count will help it as it develops and markets Google Me.

Valleywag Stalks Mark Zuckerberg to Make Point About Privacy

The Gawker-run Silicon Valley gossip website Valleywag has begun a new feature that intends to show Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg what it’s like to lose one’s privacy online. The site has hired a paparazzi photographer to follow Zuckerberg around during the day and publish the photos online. Thus far, they haven’t found anything interesting, other than the fact that Zuckerberg drives an Acura even though he’s worth 4an estimated four billion dollars. Though ValleyWag is pushing the limits of ethical journalism with this series, it’s an interesting counter point to Zuckerberg’s own statement that the “age of privacy is over.”