New research from the US suggests that many business professionals believe that social networking sites are useful business tools.

According to the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), 65 per cent of business professionals are already using sites like MySpace and Facebook to keep in contact with colleagues and create new sales leads.

Around half (52 per cent) of the workers questioned said that they use these sites to keep in contact with other member of staff. Just under half (47 per cent) use the sites to connect with potential clients and showcase their business skills.

"We expected to see a number of respondents utilizing social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook for personal reasons, but we were intrigued at the high percentage of business professionals that use social networking for professional purposes," explained Jay Jamrog, i4cp's senior vice president of research.

"In an age where more and more employees work remotely and people frequently change companies, it makes sense that the business community would turn to the web to stay connected.

"Social networks have opened a new dynamic in bringing that community online, and the ability to share what's working and what isn't in real time is invaluable to many employees today."

However, recent research from T-Mobile showed that 26 per cent of workers in the UK are prevented from accessing the internet at all while in the office.