Surfing News Sites At Work

Studies

from the is-this-really-a-big-deal? dept

Some interesting timing on this one. With the much hyped “launch” of Google’s news service today (even though it’s actually been available for months – all they really did today was put a new interface on it), Websense has come out with yet another biased study saying that (gasp! oh no!) people are surfing for news at work. They make it sound as though people surfing news sites at work are a bigger threat than employees surfing porn and gambling sites. Of course, since Websense wants to sell software that blocks what employees can surf, it’s in their best interest to pitch the story that way. I, honestly, don’t see what’s wrong with people occasionally checking a news site while they’re working. If they still get their job done, what’s the big deal? Many people are a lot more productive with an occasional break from constant work. If checking CNN to see what’s going on in the world for a little while each day keeps them sane and productive, why should anyone want to block that? If someone is spending all their time on news sites, then they’re not getting their work done – and that’s a different issue. But saying that news sites need to be blocked is going after the wrong thing. The article also starts out with a claim that “just about any” company that provides internet access also uses blocking software that prevents employees from surfing to unapproved sites. I find that unlikely. Most companies I know may have policies restricting access to porn sites, but not that many actively use blocking software.