It’s not news that many workplaces ban social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, but Aussie bosses seem to be one of the strongest offenders. According to a survey of 1,000 Australian workers by 3, 55% of workplaces bar such services. But we’re not taking it lying down: 28% of us hide our screens from bosses to conceal social networking activity, and 17% are skipping lunch breaks to make more Twitter time. Does your workplace ban social networks, and do you work hard to get around it? Share your thoughts in the comments (if you can).
Aussie Workers Sneak Around Facebook Bans
Comments
12 responses to “Aussie Workers Sneak Around Facebook Bans”
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MurtyMy workplace has not blocked any websites. I enjoy the freedom… sometimes too much
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GladiceIf you work on a mac like me, spaces and the porn button are a win for social networking sites and general swashbuckling.
I dedicate one space to all non-work stuff, and have a dark desktop background and gloss finish on my imac. It means I can use my screen like a mirror to see if anyone is looking over my shoulder. If they are I can just press ctrl+arrow key to switch to a space which has all my work up.
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monkeypuncherI banned it at our office after seeing far too much time wasted on it. If you’ve got time for facebook, you have time to handle more work. I also banned seek…look for jobs on your own time. Soon I will block news.com.au and ninemsn.com.au because of the time spent trawling through mindless news articles instead of producing a return on the salary they are paid.
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Reynawell if your having a hard time getting your employees to work maybe you need new employees. I personally work with alot of people who do more than their share. And not because we are asked to but because it makes everyones work enviorment run smoother. And if maybe we feel like giving our brain a little breathing room by going on facebook or myspace or what ever website we feel like going to for a few minutes i think we deserve that.
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andrewhttp://www.browseatwork.com
http://www.bypassthat.com🙂
Not always totally effective.. but well worth a try!
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confusedI’m confused. Work-place = place of work. Facebook = *social* networking. Why is this a problem? We had access to facebook at work for about two weeks. Then it was blocked. No one was surprised.
It’s not exactly a human right, it’s not even a site that is actually used for business networking (despite what people claim). It is social networking. It’s not a matter that needs to be debated. No one would complain if their boss banned them from making hour-long personal phone calls at work, facebook is really just an evolution of that.
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FrantelleBoth my client workplace and my company workplace have blocked access to anything remotely related to personal use of the net. I have tried many ways to bypass it including setting up a reverse SSH tunnel to my home network, but none of it worked (the networks are locked down tighter than a snake’s butt), and frankly it never felt right to so blatantly flout the terms of use.
So in the end I bought a cheap Netbook and use an old mobile as a 3G modem. That way I’m not accessing their network against the rules, no-one seems to bat an eyelid about the extra equipment sitting on my desk, and I keep a lid on the time wasting by using it mostly on breaks.
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SexyNinjaMonkeyI work in a bank call centre, so everything is blocked…
Except smh.com.au But i don’t blame them, social networking websites are brutal time wasters.
Your being paid to work, not to f*ck around.
What i would like is if they had some unblocked pc’s we could access in the lunch room, so i can check my email or even post to my blog during breaks. -
MattThe company I work for blocks all social networking sites as well as ebay, youtube, real estate sites, job search sites etc. But… all 4 of us have iPhones and we all use them the get around the restrictions!!
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MatthewHow ridiculous, any workplace has a massive focus on social networks to get things done. How do you know who to talk to or who to ask for help if you don’t form your social network?
My place of work has a facebook clone on the intranet to facilitate more communication among employees!
If I were a manager I would be promoting it’s use, makes work much more efficient.
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AshleyOur work has a proxy that allows some blocked sited to be accessed for only 10 minutes each day, and then are blocked after the quota runs out.
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ZenTheoryAs a Gen Y manager I can understand the bans put in place by companies. You are paid to work while you are at work not to play around on social networks.
Matthew, I have heard that social networking set ups can work well for some companies, however I believe it needs to be the right fit for the company, it wouldn’t work in just any, it would not work for ours. The fact that you have a clone social network also means that that network is limited to your own business, which makes sense.
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