Open Thread: What Type of Web Worker Are You?
May 18th, 2007 (9:00am) Mike Gunderloy 25 Comments
I’ve recently been swapping e-mail with a friend who doesn’t read WWD because she doesn’t think she’s a web worker. That gave me pause, because she fits squarely into one of the groups that we think of as our readers. But then I realized: we haven’t spelled this out anywhere. So without further ado, here’s a taxonomy of web workers.
The Digital Bedouin: This is the web worker that gets the most media attention, the roving nomad “able to set up shop wherever there is an Internet connection, chairs, tables, and sources of caffeine” and running a company or a consulting business on the go.
The Telecommuter: Unlike the digital bedouin, the telecommuter normally works from one fixed location, and is a full-time employee - it’s just that the location is (usually) home rather than office. Some people telecommute full-time, others combine telecommuting with some more traditional days in the office.
The Entrepreneur: Gone are the days when being self-employed meant drumming up business from your local community. Whether you’re selling t-shirts or accounting services, the web can give you global reach from your own home office.
The Corporate Web Worker: We think this is the most overlooked class of web workers: people in a traditional corporate setting, going into the office every day but still using the web to empower themselves and gain amazing productivity. If the web enables your job: you’re a web worker.
Realizing the risks of persona-based analysis, we’d love to hear from you. Does your own web work fit into one of these categories? Do you cross the boundaries and fit into more than one group? Or have we missed your style of web working entirely? The comments are open!
25 Comments Post your own comment
Chris Busse says: May 18th, 2007 9:13am
I am an Entreprenuer who would like to be a Digital Bedouin, except it takes about an hour out of my day to “commute” to the coffeeshop, setup, get working, commute back home.
datter says: May 18th, 2007 10:04am
I’ve actually been all of the above, but at the moment am in a “corporate” setting… though just with a small company. If you took some sort of formal web-worker poll you’d find that while a lot of people use the web in their workplace on a daily basis, that just as often as not it’s to goof around or pass the time, moreso than to “gain amazing productivity”. That’s been my experience anyway.
So there’s “web workers” in all the categories you laid out above, plus small businesses like this one… and then there’s “web sitters” who really spend too much time just being online, when they SHOULD be working instead.
A good example of that would be me writing this long-winded comment at the office. *ahem*
Rob says: May 18th, 2007 11:41am
Currently part Entreprenuer, part Telecommuter because as I’m trying to build my business I am doing contract work for others to pay the bills. In a few years I hope to go completely mobile and become the Digital Bedouin and see some of North America at the same time.
Colin says: May 18th, 2007 11:59am
I work in an office (well, let’s be honest, a cube) five days a week - and for that reason, I didn’t pay much attention to WWD when it launched. But I kept it in my list of feeds, and I’m glad I did - for the very reasons you mention in your description of ‘The Corporate Web Worker’. Thanks for the recognition!
Deepak says: May 18th, 2007 1:28pm
I work in a corporate setting, and am very much a web worker. I travel a lot, work when I am in the office and when I am at home. A lot of my work gets done on the web and (is why I’ve been reading WWD from the day it started). I would say anyone in sale, marketing or business development at a company is a candidate for WWD.
junger says: May 18th, 2007 2:13pm
Corporate Web Worker!
Kevin says: May 18th, 2007 3:16pm
Well, I think I fit in as an Entrepreneur, seeing as I am always working towards building, but I am also a Digital Bedouin, as I live off of my laptop and ftp servers. However, I woul like to suggest one more type, and that is the casual webber, I am a student and therefore cannot live off of just my work as a designer, but do it to suppliment my other incomes and pay for school. Just food for thought.
Michael says: May 18th, 2007 3:49pm
Mainly in ‘The Telecommuter’ category.
During a typical week, I’m combining the telecommuting with normal office work days (1-2 days telecommuting and 3-4 days in the office).
Telecommuting gives such a great ‘freedom’ to stay focused on a big project/task, as opposed to being in the office with lots of interruptions.
CJ says: May 18th, 2007 6:27pm
At the moment I guess I would fit into the Corporate Web Worker persona, but I’m working toward becoming a Digital Bedouin. The idea of being able to take off whenever I want without having to worry about not meeting my “work” obligations is extremely appealing. And while I don’t see myself ever jet-setting around the world, I would like the opportunity to go work at the beach for a month, or go to the mountains, or the city, etc. At the moment the only time I get to do any of the above is when I’m on vacation (which isn’t very often).
Kelly says: May 18th, 2007 7:14pm
I guess I fit the entrepreneur, since I almost totally work from home and am self-employed as a designer/developer. Which reminds me, you should do a piece on titles. I have a hard time trying to fit what I do into something that fits on a business card.
Clark says: May 19th, 2007 2:05am
Unable to Find Enough Work Digital Bedouin.
fildawg says: May 19th, 2007 3:24am
I’m part corporate web worker, part telecommuter. However, I’m shifting quickly to digital bedouin and entrepreneur.
Yomi Adegboye says: May 19th, 2007 11:03am
I’m both a Digital Bedouin and an Entrepreneur.
FeralWorker says: May 19th, 2007 12:39pm
I’m a digital Bedouin/entrepreneur, though I prefer “feral.”
Sky's Blog - The Dalai Lama Foundation CTO says: May 19th, 2007 6:15pm
I’m a Turtle - What type of Nomad are you?
Couple of things to report regarding cybernomads - folks who work where they want to because they work online.First, a site WebWorkerDaily reports lots of interesting things and you might want to “check them out.”
…
Sky says: May 19th, 2007 6:28pm
I am set up to be totally Bedouin. Can work using Wi-Fi in my home office, or GPRS thru my cell phone when on the road. I frequently have lunch business meetings where I’m online the entire meeting. I can be out of town at a client site, or even at someone’s house, and do 100% of my necessary work from the road. The only time I’m offline, and that’s not even guaranteed, is when I’m at a site and in a sales meeting with a potential client.
Clark says: May 20th, 2007 10:24am
Hmm, your definitions don’t quite work for me. I mostly work from home (60% of the time?), but I’m an independent, not employed by a corporation, so tele-commuter doesn’t quite fit according to your definition (loosen the ‘full-time employee’ unless you can mean of your own company). Then, when I *am* on the road, I’m definitely a digital bedouin. All I need is my laptop and phone…
Brynolf says: May 22nd, 2007 3:15am
I’m a Corporate Web Worker, and although I can telecommute, it’s not really done here. I’d like to telecommute at least a couple of days a week but my supervisor seems to think that means slacking. They don’t realise how much I slack at work and much more I could get done from home, away from the noise. Of course they don’t mind me telecommuting when things need to get done on the weekend or at 6am…
Beau says: May 24th, 2007 11:25am
I’m a telecommuter/Beduoin.
Mainly,I telecommute from a home office, but I do the Bedouin bit more when taking the kid’s to mid-day activities (swim practice, etc.).
I think that I’ll be Bedouin a little more once they are out of school for the summer and I’ll want some peace and quiet.
Leonid Mamchenkov says: May 25th, 2007 2:53am
I tried my best at staying an Enterprenuer, but that didn’t work out very well. Maybe because I didn’t learn to spell that word right, I don’t know. I am not a sort of the Corporate Web Worker.
Rob Witham says: May 26th, 2007 5:53pm
I am a Digital Bedouin (freelance writer). I work from wherever I happen to be - from NY to Montana or somewhere in between.
Stephen says: June 3rd, 2007 5:08am
I am a cube slave working on my escape plan!
Frontiers of Web Work: the eICU « Web Worker Daily says: November 22nd, 2007 11:00am
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» Frontiers of Web Work: the eICU - Your Gadget Pro says: November 23rd, 2007 6:49am
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Nadine T. says: November 24th, 2007 2:44am
I suppose I fit in the Entrepreneur category since I’m self-employed, although I don’t sell my stuff (translations) via the Web, but I deliver it that way, and I’m logged in about 18 hours a day.
Not a digital Bedouin, or an uncomfortable one, in France where I live, you still need a trunkful of devices, and/or quite a few Euros to pay for mobile connections to get set up anywhere, certainly not in smaller cities. However I do accept work on vacation, even though this means scouring a city for THE @cafe that will allow me to up/download from/onto my USB drive. Very acrobatic (and frustrating) at times.