The Two-Edged Sword of Web 2.0
March 29th, 2007 (9:00am) Mike Gunderloy 33 CommentsTweet This
As web workers, most of us are steeped in Web 2.0 throughout our working day (never mind that we can’t agree on what “Web 2.0″ means). Many of us have embraced online applications from Google, Yahoo, and elsewhere to do the bulk of our work, and we rely on a mishmash of social media sites to stay in touch with our peers and build our extended networks. But this connectivity comes at a cost: the internet is filled with bright, shiny distractions.
Content security firm Clearswift recently tried to quantify the magnitude of the problem with a survey of 827 employees in organizations of 1,000 people and up. Among their findings:
- 43% of office workers access social media sites from their work computers several times a day
- 51% spend an hour or more a week on the sites; 13% spend five hours or more
- 46% have discussed work-related issues on social media sites
- 46% regularly access Wikipedia during work hours
- 50% believe they have a right to use work computers for personal internet access
This survey puts numbers on what you probably already know: though we think of the web as a massive productivity enhancer, for some people it’s also a great time sink. This can leave some web workers caught in a contradiction: if you invest effort in the perfect system for getting things done and saving time, only to use up that time again in endless tours of blogs and chats and social sites, have you really gained anything?
Clearswift, of course, would like you to consider their range of policy-based filtering solutions to tackle this problem, and they’re a reasonable alternative for large corporations. But independents and those in small companies might want to think about setting their own personal acceptable use policy for the web. If you feel like your own life is turning into nothing more than an endless treadmill of chasing the latest online trends, consider these tactics:
- Set aside particular blocks of time for the more distracting activities in your day, instead of letting them intrude constantly. Do you really need to be in constant touch with your e-mail, RSS feeds, photostreams, and Twitter messages?
- If your day is broken up into major tasks, reward yourself for a task well-done with a session of goofing off. But no cheating: finish the task first!
- Remember that it’s OK to say no. You don’t have to sign up with the latest cool site just because all the cool kids are doing it.
- Take some time to evaluate the things you’re doing online “for fun,” and stop doing the ones that aren’t fun any more.
Not everyone who spends an hour surfing the web while at work has a problem, of course. Most of us can decide for ourselves whether we’d like to take back some of that time for other activities. But as with other parts of life, it’s good to make sure you examine your online habits from time to time, lest the internet take over your life without your even noticing.
How do you keep your web working hours productive? Or have you learned to stop worrying and love the social media?
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
While I agree many of these websites are eye-candy and continuous distraction, I think it comes down not to the hours spent goofing off, but whether you’re actually getting any work done. After hearing about Best Buy and Netflix having a lax policy for “in-office hours” it makes more sense to move to that model, thereby allowing employees to do their personal stuff online if they want, whenever they want, for as long as they want — but again, as long as they actually produce get their work done at some point.
I have to agree with this – although once you get a few great tools that really work for you then you can really alleviate alot of frustration in day to day work. I must say that the time that continues to be wasted is in researching the new tools that come along to make sure the old tools are still cutting it.
Does the fact that I literally said “yes” aloud to, “Do you really need to be in constant touch with your e-mail, RSS feeds, photostreams, and Twitter messages?” indicate that I have a problem? ;)
All kidding aside, I do find that my time browsing and playing online is sometimes procrastination, sometimes research, but most often, it’s used to let my brain rest from work tasks so that I return to my actual job feeling refreshed, inspired, and ready to go.
I am lucky these days to get to spend time watching what’s in the news and on YouTube for a living. Go ahead and hate me :)
Might as well hate me too, I get to blog, take pics, and do video too.
I totally agree but I would say its not the web 20 sites that distract me its forums and blogs.
I have a minor rss addiction and constantly check my email.
I find my self checking them more when I am bored with the task at hand or am putting it off for one reason or another.
my one rule about working from home is simple. Get it done and get it done before the deadline.
Time Drain… you can take things out of sinks.
Web 2 is simply the proliferation of internet technologies. The more internet we have, the more informed we are to make decisions, to take action if we want to. It’s a double edge sword like nuclear technology: for the most part it’s a good thing.
I’ll have to agree with IANMACK that getting work done is the most
important part. There is a great article in the NY Times on multitasking
and the importance of minimizing distractions. For me, I try to set
aside times when I am connected and times when I go dark and get stuff
knocked out.
It’s up to the people to decide whether they wanna use a resource, in the right sense or misuse it, I judicially allot my time for work and personal surfing. I take utmost care that I do not end up waisting extra time at places not required. I believe it all has to do one’s effectiveness to work and still play around in Web2.0 and yet be updated and satisfied with it. I have to draw a line between what I feel is important and ‘must do’ as against what is not required. I work for 10 to 12 hours a day and that too much of time for everything on this earth.
Well for me definitely it’s not a time sink.
and yes its a competitive world out there! if you don’t grab the opportunity its someone else, so if life has become endless treadmill of chasing the latest online trends, let it, cause there cannot be a better mind exercise than this.
I think the hardest thing is trying to figure out which information on the web is actually valuable to one’s job. There’s also this feeling of loathing if you miss out on some piece of news that you should’ve found before anyone else (that’s why I read GigaOm).
Personally: I’ve tried to limit things that I think are too distracting, such as IM and Twitter. Email still works for 99% of the things I do & adding another tool/contact method could create information overload.
Great perspectives here Mike. I can certainly relate to many of your points. While I gain immense benefit from my arsenal of web2.0 tools that are part of my daily routine and hyper-productive online existence, I thought I’d share some of the sites that I would consider to be my biggest web2.0 time sinks:
del.icio.us popular
digg swarm
originalsignal buzz
explore flickr
technorati popular
youtube top favs today
The GigaOmniMedia Network has proven a time-sink for me. I read everything, everything that is written on the network. And I am slow reader
Excellent post – I use a large display digital timer to block my day into 48/12 work hours (48 minutes work, 12 minutes slack). It’s a very sustainable approach to both concentrating on getting serious work done and limiting interaction on the web. ( GTD SOP#2)
Here is a refreshing switch, a Web 2.0 Tool that will actually increase productivity!
For all you business travelers out there, I encourage you to test drive http://www.tripsync.com Its a fee Web 2.0 travel booking tool that allows you to book, manage and change your travel plans right through Outlook. There is a great demo on the site and you can book and hold your reservation without paying for it for up to 24 hours.
Go to the apps you want when you want to, don’t leave them all running popping up in your face all day long. It works for me.
There’s a lot more problems that time wasting with web 2.0 sites. Have a read of this extension article: http://paralleldivergence.com/2006/10/28/the-trouble-with-web-20/
43% of office workers access social media sites from their work computers several times a day
myspace rocks
lol
As a teacher, I have guaranteed time away from the Internet feeds with students. I have just had to advise a young adult to seek counselling for computer addiction – SecondLife – for the first time in a 20 year stint.
Perhaps we need to be teaching task focus skills and time management instead of blocking most Web 2.0 sites in Colleges.
Any suggestions for topics/skills to teach?
“All the work and no play,
Made Jack a dull boy.”
This is one of the most famous sayings I’m hearing since my school days. I think visiting Web 2.0 tools is not an Evil. Even during the working hours, when the pressure mounts, then we need some sort of ‘change’, and I feel this ‘change’ is a necessity. As I am working with a software firm on system software, I need to go to Wikipedia, Webopedia, HowStuffsWork etc to get some basic information about the latest technology that are not explained in the traditional computer science books.
The another isue that has been touched in the blog is ‘discussion of work-related issues on social media sites”. I don’t think it is dangerous or it will hamper the health of any firm, so far as the topic is not sensitive. There are thousands of discussion forums where people discuss their work releated complicacies. I myself visit such forums from where I can get the solutions of my code releted issues. I would like to put a question also, which of the following two options is good for work?
1) Not visiting the social forums for solutions and struggling for the solutions for long hours.
2) Getting that issue solved in few minutes and moving ahead for the new challenges.
I maintain that the Web 2.0 tools are not Evils, simultaneously I am also pretty concerned about the writer’s concerns. So, in my analysis after the long discusions with friends, I feel it strongly that ‘Self-Restrain’ is the solution……the ‘Balance’ is the answer.