Internet Content Filtering

[HostingMonkey]

Internet content filtering is playing an increasingly large part in corporate employee strategy these days, with employers not being able to trust the very people which they employ.

Do you think this is necessary? Should employees still be able to access MSN/MySpace/other sites while still at work? I think that this would promote a healthy balance of work/play while at work, and possibly lead to higher performance as long as it is not abused.

Then again:
*It costs the company money to have an Internet connection
*They are not paying you to play around all day

But it IS very annoying when you can't access a site you really need to look at.

:hahano: Random post!

 

[gateway]

I think keeping balance in life is as important as internet filtering. although it is anoying to employees I think it is the best way to keep focus ones at work. Ones online, your attention shift to what you are doing there more than the work you are suppose to do. After all when you go home you have a whole lot of time after rest to do whatever you want on the net.

On the other hand I may support you since the net help some people in other field to rather keep their focuse and rest their brains which is vital but this make up about 20% of work places

 

[a-a-a]

When you're at work, you're suppose to work, not chat on msn/etc.
It isn't wrong for the company to filter those things to prevent you from going off task.
I mean, if you're the employer, would you want all your employees to be chatting and not doing work? The answer should be yes.

Also, you're using the company's resources to go on sites you're not really suppose to go on.
And you can go on them when you're at home.

If a site is necessary for work, then it shouldn't be blocked. If it is, then maybe talk to the higher ups about it? (If it will change anything) Otherwise, you shouldn't complain if it is blocked.

Employees hate it, but nothing they can do. (There's also proxies, but those might get blocked too.)

 

[blackpsycho]

lol sorta somewhat off this topic i read a little article on the hotmail homepage about swearing at work.. apparently it actually helps as it may make people more comfortable with eachother. as far as your thing goes.. i worked for a company that didn't block anything. i used to go on the internet at lunch and break.. to sorta get my mind moving again.. seemed to help quite a bit if i was stuck on a problem. if its a site that someone feels they need then ya i agree take it to a higherup and explain to them why u need this. my highschool used to block many sites.. including ones i need for the robotics club i was in. they blocked the forums and they site for the competition we were in so it was impossible to seek others help when we were at school and by the time we got home.. we'd forget what the problem was.. we went to our schools network admin and asked him to unblock them for us and give him an explanation and he did it right away.

 

[eboyer]

I dont think it hurts to have a little mix in the bunch. I am on at work right now posting this. I have to take breaks from programming every once and awhile to keep my head from exploding. I think it should be up to the employee to know how long is ok, and to be responsible with it. Also it would drive me crazy not being able to get onto a site that i needed to, but that actually depends on how they set up the Proxy Server, if they set it up with a White List, that means you can only go to the sites you say, if you go with Black list, then it only blocks the sites you specify, unless it has a smart proxy options which means it tries to guess based on the sites you already have blocked whether or not the site is for work or play.

 

[swirly]

I think they have done some kind of study on this. My philosiphy is that as long as you get your work done there should be no problem with it.When it interferes with work then you should not be allowed to. I think that people are more productive when they are a little more "free" to do what they want.

 

[Spartan Erik]

I disagree with swirly; people aren't productive when they are spending hours checking their Facebooks or Myspaces. If I were the boss I would definitely implement filters for popular social networking sites and many proxies; if I were the employee however the tables would turn obviously!

 

[Slothie]

Use a proxy I setup my own at www.bluefroxy.com =P

 

[arsonistx]

I think people should be able to access all sites (except offensive or pornographic..) at work or school. I do not see a problem with it, as long as they do not abuse it. If you have work to do, then do the work. If you have nothing to do at the moment, then yeah, I'd say it would be fine to check your myspace or another site they want to check. I would monitor the websites that people go to though, and see how long they spend each day visiting these websites.

 

[Pergamon]

I have been working for the last 33 years. My jobs have been in a variety of different businesses, and I usually have more than one job at a time. One thing I have learned is that the cliche is true, if you give people an inch they will take a mile. Sure, some people have discipline and don't abuse the perks, but others can't control themselves.

I would rather have the internet at work filtered than have to do the work of another employee because they couldn't pull themselves away from chat/facebook/whatever. As a supervisor, I don't want to have to micromanage someone because they want to pm their bbf every five minutes.

Most jobs pay by the hour. An employer who pays by the hour should be able to expect to receive an hour's work for an hour's pay.

Pergamon

 

[Splatzone]

An idea:

How about a points scheme for non-work related sites? Every time you view a "leisure" site, points are deducted from your account. To gain more points, you can pitch into the bandwidth funds to use their resources, or not go on it. This could work if the business approved which sites this should apply, and no points were deducted from visiting them.

Another idea is sponsored adverts. Or a slower connection.

 

[GamingX]

Yep, I agree with Spartan Erik, I wouldn't want my employees wasting time on something that is not at all productive. Socialising can be done at home. And for companies especially big ones, time is of the essence. So they wouldn't want employees wasting time checking either facebook or myspace. In my opinion these websites are wasting away the time of the youth. I don't know how people can afford to waste so much time when they could be doing something productive.

 

[Ragsy1]

I also agree, work is for work. Work is not for spending personal time chatting, reading emails, playing games or what ever else. You're there to do a job, and get paid of it... by not working, it's downright theft from the company you're working for. They are paying you to do nothing. I see absolutely no problem in companys filtering internet content to their employees.

I know someone who goes to work, spend a good 6/8 hours of his day on myspace, or playing MMORPGs... He's been reprimanded for it twice now, and the current threat to him is a lawsuit to have him pay back the wages given for him not working. Aparently they've been monitoring his internet access. I can honestly say, that I have no sympathy for him either.

I can also say from personal work experiences, one person in a work place slacking off causes problems for everyone. For instance, the guy keeping track of work orders is busy on myspace, doesn't get his work orders done in time, that holds all of assembly back, which holds shipping back, and that holds delivery and getting paid back. The same can be said for almost any position as well. You could even say the same thing for those extended coffee breaks though...

 

[DRWolfe]

If the work gets done, then there should be no problem. An employer should be able to identify an employee who is not getting their work done because of browsing or other issues and deal with it individually.

 

[Cowen]

If employees really are that geared to go to their desired sites then I am sure they will find a way.

So employers might as well just let them and regulate it a little bit by monitoring the sites they visit and make sure they aren't too bad.

 

[agaitu]

i think it is necessary to block them
so that the worker can focus more on the work rather than chatting or playing