Internet socialing networks in the work place

robo

So I was looking at the news and companies are looking at the cost that the likes of these networking sites are costing them...I would argue that the internet has been costing companies millions in the last 5 years since more and more workplaces have access to the internet, I don't think that you can only blame networking sites.
Not everyone uses these - there are so many other sites that people spend their time on so my point is that I don't that think that this type of publicity is only linked to social network sites.
What is your opinion?

Apologises if this has been discussed before.

KdjaCL

I can access 15 websites in work, i submitted a list with boards.ie and pats forum snuck in the middle.

Company can do the above but actually check the list and only give access to websites which are required for work so dunno why they complaining they losing money.


kdjac

cazzy

boards, bebo, yahoo mail, paddy power, shopping sites etc all blocked in my workplace.

robo

So are you both saying that you agree with me that it is not just a new phenomenon that staff in work are abusing their work place internet access and not just on Bebo etc.?
Do you agree that sites should be banned? Or should people be given the responsibility that of only using non-work related sites during lunch or after work. Cos I understand that not everyone would have access to the net at home and using Yahoo, Bebo etc may be their only way to keep in contact with some friends and family, especially for people who are working abroad!

cazzy

Well you're not being paid to make friends.
Surfing during lunch is fine or if you come in a little early say to buy tickets on ticketmaster or the like.

Jesus Wept

cazzy wrote:

Well you're not being paid to make friends.
Surfing during lunch is fine or if you come in a little early say to buy tickets on ticketmaster or the like.

Careful now, none of that talk around here.

dade

robo wrote:

I would argue that the internet has been costing companies millions in the last 5 years since more and more workplaces have access to the internet, I don't think that you can only blame networking sites.
.

In my experience (and an IT manager) it's not just the social networking sites that are a problem, these are a problem IMO because of the content, people update their profiles etc and go to sites like pimpmyprofile and so on which are unsafe carry malware and the like but the users don't give a rats arse once they get nice shinny lettering on their name.

in my experience its mostly on line shopping, keeping email (especially Gmail with goggle talk built in) open and the o2/Voda site with free SMS messaging on it.

Had one partner moan that the Internet was slow (yeah hang on til i wind up the spiders on the web there for ya pal) and i tried explain that it was the fault of the users coz they had 3 & 4 pages open and we have a small link, be he had no problem with them doing that coz my company wants to portray itself as a "nice place to work" and allows this ****e, i can't implement content filtering of any kind because the company may be seen and unfriendly to staff. yet when you explain the risks, not just computer based risks, but people being offended by emails or images viewed on screen, I was told you don't need to explain the law to us we are lawyers. they think the IT guys are just scaremongering and trying to justify their role.

In my opinion we use should be locked down during office hours and only those that have a business need should get access, outside hours or lunch or what ever is fine once there is content filtering in place.

AlmightyCushion

The only time I had access to bebo at work was for the few days the web filter went down and I never touched it. I did spend my time at work on other sites though but I was on student placement so you get what you pay for.

Stephen

We block all those social networking sites where I work, as well as gambling, racing, games, porn, warez, malware type sites as well.

edit: oh, and youtube too, just because of the amount of bandwidth it consumes on our weedy links.

NoQuarter

START > programs > accessories > calculator > help > help topics....
then click on the little yellow cluemark in the top left corner and choose "jump to URL" and ooh look at that, problem solved! :eek::p;)

event

i think the issue is that there are some people who never went really on the net at work, people who dont use forums and the like

with the emergence of bebo, facebook etc these people are now on it for a few hours each day

i think its that they have attracted new people to using the net during work, not the ones who have always done

dmigsy

Dade, you should work for the thought police man. Stop scaremongering and trying to justify your role!:D


It's cool that your workplace works on the assumption that everyone is capable of behaving themselves. If the workplace functions properly and no one is breaking the law by downloading copyrighted material etc(or virus etc), what's the harm? In my experience anyone who's dossing on the net gets caught out on the basis that their work is poor.

AlmightyCushion

dmigsy wrote: »

Dade, you should work for the thought police man. Stop scaremongering and trying to justify your role!:D


It's cool that your workplace works on the assumption that everyone is capable of behaving themselves. If the workplace functions properly and no one is breaking the law by downloading copyrighted material etc(or virus etc), what's the harm? In my experience anyone who's dossing on the net gets caught out on the basis that their work is poor.

I think one of his gripes is that they can download what they like because he isn't allowed to block anything. This includes copyrighted material (which could be a legal nightmare for the company) and malware (which could screw up the network and leave him with a massive clean up job on his hands).

Trusting your employees to work instead of spending all day on the internet is one thing but at least lock down dangerous sites.

dmigsy

I see your point. The difficulty is how do you define "dangerous" sites?

A company can piss off a lot of hardworking staff by not allowing them access to sites they want to access when they have a quiet moment in their working day - costing the company money in the long run. People generally do not like to feel distrusted or be deprived of a means of communication. How would "a no personal calls" rule go down in most offices these days? That costs companies money too. Why no debate about this?

AlmightyCushion

dmigsy wrote: »

I see your point. The difficulty is how do you define "dangerous" sites?

A company can piss off a lot of hardworking staff by not allowing them access to sites they want to access when they have a quiet moment in their working day - costing the company money in the long run. People generally do not like to feel distrusted or be deprived of a means of communication. How would "a no personal calls" rule go down in most offices these days? That costs companies money too. Why no debate about this?

Dangerous as in sites that are known to contain malware, porn, copyrighted material for free download. Also sites like youtube because they eat bandwidth. I would have no problem with a company I work for blocking sites for this reason. If you explain the reasons to the other employees I'm sure they wouldn't mind losing these sites but still allowed things like bebo and facebook and other safe sites.

watna

I've just moved jobs so I've been good this week in work. I'm obviously not sitting at my desk as much what with getting training, talking to people but I've done a quick look around and nothing seems to be blocked. It's a small very open office though so I think I'll stick to lunch times! My old job was very relaxed too. Some things were blocked due to "adult material", i always got a fright when that came up, it used to block legitimate work sites too! I was able to look at boards, facebook etc but if i had something to do i worked instead. i guess it's the calibre of your employees, if you do your best to hire hard-working sensible employees then companies shouldn't have a problem with lazy feckers looking online when they're supposed to be working!