When Work Time and Personal Time Mix

OK, fess up: You’re visiting a social media Web site -- this blog -- from the office, and it isn’t because your employer asked you to.

And come clean: You’re also reading a bunch of other blogs, checking out new and interesting photos on Flickr, popping into Second Life, leaving comments on your friends’ MySpace pages, updating your profile in Facebook, watching videos on YouTube and sending IMs to friends and family – all from within the confines of the workplace.

And according to a recent survey by Clearswift, you’re very much part of the majority. A whopping 87 percent of those surveyed said they access Web 2.0 sites from work each week, with 51 percent spending at least an hour a week on these sites.

You’re also sending personal emails, making and taking personal phone calls and buying personal merchandise online in the workplace.

But don’t worry: I’m not here to condemn you. In fact, if you’re like many of my friends and colleagues and working in the information economy, I know that you’re living a blended life, where your work day doesn’t simply begin when you walk into the office and end when you leave it. No, your working world bleeds into your home life as well, meaning that you’re also writing work reports on a Saturday morning or catching up on work emails on a Sunday night from the computer in your home office or living room.

In fact, the whole question of when you’re actually on work time or personal time can be a bit of a mess, can’t it? And if I know this, then your employer surely does as well. 

However, it’s still a good idea to know your company’s policy on acceptable Internet use. You could very well be among the 50 percent in the Clearswift survey who believe they “should be entitled to access Web 2.0 Internet content from their work computer for personal reasons,” but you might want to make sure your employer shares that opinion.

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