I think that when we all started work, our intentions on the internet we pure. It was to be used for work purposes only.
. . .
Well maybe its OK to visit BBC Sport of some other respected site – we all need to keep up on the day’s key events.
Then comes the administration stage. You take the example from your peers that it is OK to ring the bank at lunch, or pay you bills online. It helps to streamline your life and couldn’t be done at home. Oh no. There is nothing more refreshing to see someone furiously typing away with a perplexed look on their face, only to find out that when they pick up the phone it is to complain to Vodafone, or look up a swimming pool in Clapham.
On to stage three. When you are settled in you start to think how it would be nice to save time on all of your personal life, so you start to shop on line. It’s a nice break from work, and gives you something to look forward to. I can’t count the number of time I’ve seen people slide out the credit card onto the desk to enter into Amazon, lastminute.com or any other non-worklike escapist dream.
I was recently at this stage and hanging onto my one principle of Internet usage. I would shop, browse, organise my life, but I wouldn’t go on Facebook. No social networking for me. No way sir, not in this office, another office or any office.
Lets just saw the blue and white beast got the better of me and now I part of the club which sees how far the boundaries of NSFW (not suitable for work) goes. Videos, online rudeness twitter, games, gambling, TV, music, surveys – so many ways to escape.
We recently have an IT crackdown where servers were switched and most fun sites blocked. Only then do you realise what you are running from . . . being an executive.
