Is browsing "Personal Sites" (like the Dope) on your break at work poor etiquette?

In My Humble Opinion
21

That’s ridiculous. If you’re given time to yourself to calm down, relax, and unwind so you can do your job better after coming back from a few minutes of refreshment, you should be free to do whatever you want (assuming it’s publicly appropriate). And people absolutely smoke on breaks, just not in the office itself (due to laws and whatnot).

How are you wasting company resources? I could understand if there was a shared computer and you’re using the computer others could be working on, but using your work computer for a quick 5 minute break on personal sites isn’t wasting anything. It’s not like you’re using half of your company’s supply of coal for a 5 mile train ride, you’re MAYBE increasing their electric bill for the month by .00005 cents and using their near endless amounts of bandwidth, which, if it’s allowed by the rules, is probably already accounted for anyway.

22

I notice by get very defensive when I say this. One can be addicted to the internet. I get the strong feeling many Dopers are.

It is your down time. You should not be using company resources during your down time. There other ways to unwind (your word not mine). If the only way someone can use their break is to use the internet, that person has an addiction to the internet. Just as, if the only way you can unwind invovles the web, you are addict. If I said, the only way I unwind is to drink alcohol and I HAVE to drink alcohol at work, everyone would call me an addict. Why is the internet different? (Addiction wise)

23

In the industry in which I work, in most of my jobs, it was allowed and even shared (hey Mark, come here and look at this idiot on youtube! yeah, one of “my” dopers recommended it)… Usually don’t have time, but on the rare occasion we’re slow and bored, it’s definitely allowed.

I’ve even had jobs (interim Kelly Girl) type jobs where it was expressly encouraged, as in "there’s not a lot to do other than answer phones so feel free to surf (obviously no porn or gambling stuff like that).

24

There are many ways to unwind: reading a book, playing video games, but most of those things are more long-term endeavors. You don’t want to do something with an overarching plot or story during your 5-10 minute break.

The internet is easily accessible, and has a lot of “throw away” content: easily digestible content that you can start and be done with in 5-10 minutes. A message board is a quick “read a few posts, post a short reply.” Same with email. I can go on Cracked and read a short article. It’s not that the internet is the ONLY way, it’s by far the EASIEST way other than sitting in the break room twiddling your thumbs. I guess you could call someone, but most people are going to be in work as well, and likely don’t have the same time for break as you do. The internet has so many options (websites) available, you have a large variety of things you can choose to do on your break, and not only that, there are many, many options that can be started and finished within the course of a short 5-10 minute break. This is in contrast to a video game, where you’re unlikely to even finish a short sidequest on break, or a book where (depending on the quality and length) you’re only moderately likely to finish a chapter. I could go on and on about other possibilities, but all of them have similar issues. I guess you could bug your coworkers, but if they’re not on break that’s even worse than “squandering company resources” or whatever.

And I’m not really that defensive, trust me.

25

Ethics don’t come into it. If it’s against the rules, it’s against the rules. If it’s not, it’s fine.

26

That’s an interesting perspective. What do you think people should do during their work breaks?

27

Really, people get defensive when you tell them they’re addicts because they kill small amounts of time by reading the internet? Strange.

What do you do at work during breaks? Whatever it is, you’re addicted to that.

28

You do seem defensive. You also seem to think everyone has the same issues you do. You could go for a walk. I like to that on my breaks. Go to a store, depending on how close your work place is to anything. You could do a type of craft. I see a lot of people knitting/crocheting/needlepointing on breaks. You could read a newspaper. You could read a magazine.Sodku (sp?), anyone? All of these don’t invovle the internet.

If you feel the only way to unwind is to use the internet, you probably have an internet addiction.

29

You probably are addicted if you have to be on the internet during your free time. You’re certainly addicted to a site (even if it’s not The Dope, if you have to have to visit it every day.

I do different things on my breaks (if I take them).

30

Anything that isn’t wasting work supplies.

31

Poor etiquette? As long as it’s not something objectionable, no. If your employer allows personal browsing on breaks, etc., it’s not unethical, either.
**
YaraMateo**, you trippin’. SIMMAH DOWN NAH!

32

What work supplies are being wasted by internet browsing? (Note the term “browsing”, which implies that you aren’t streaming HD video or anything like that).

Electricity? No one shuts down their computer during a 10-15 minute break, and a computer running a web browser doesn’t draw perceptibly more power than an idling one.

Bandwidth? I guess, but again, as long as you aren’t streaming HD media, you’re using inconsequential amounts, especially at the scale that businesses use it. If your company’s bandwidth is really that scarce, your IT department has probably filtered out everything that isn’t strictly business-related anyway.

Browsing the internet at work, during breaks, is not the sign of an internet addiction, any more than reading a newspaper is the sign of a newspaper addiction.

33

So let me try to understand you. You believe I should not be on the internet during my working time (or “wasting work supplies,” which makes it sound like the internet is delivered on Post-Its), but I should also not be on the internet during my free time? What do you have against the internet? :dubious:

I think a lot of people are already “on the internet” when they’re working. Looking at web sites (Dope or non-Dope) on their breaks is not using any resources outside of what would be used if they were idly daydreaming about Fiji. In most cases, when they aren’t performing actual work their computers are still on and still connected to both intranet and internet, so no additional expense to the company if the browser is directed to Reuters’ web site, right? Furthermore, I perform my work duties over the internet using my employer’s computer (which they will get back should our paths diverge) and I provide the internet connection and the electricity. Does that mean I can ethically go on part of the internet?

With all due respect, I can’t come up with anything to support your claims that visiting a web site during your work day is evidence of addiction, but I’m kinda ornery that way.

34

I question how using the internet during breaks is “wasting work supplies” in any rational understanding of a professional office with standard bandwidth, but ok.

Counterpoints:

Crafts: 15 minute break is not long enough for any of my crafting projects. I am a costumer, makeup designer, and beadworker. 15 minutes often isn’t enough time to set out my supplies. I often will sketch character or costume/fashion ideas in my sketchpad, but even that is limited to quick sketches, as an actual costume design or character study takes way longer than 15 minutes to resolve.

Sudoko/Crosswords/Puzzles: Would they still be ok if I were doing them on any of the websites designed to offer said mental challenges? Or would I be a raging addict for that adulteration of puzzleitude? Also, I hate crosswords, and sudoku gives me a headache. Not exactly relaxing.

Go for walks: Great in spring and fall. I do so daily in those periods. In summer, the temp is between 95 and 105 degrees, with humidity around 60% I can’t go outside during the work day and expect to remain professionally dressed and groomed. During the winter, it’s pretty much raining every day. Same problem pertains. My workplace is too small to walk inside there, although I do make rounds of the perimeter of the building regularly anyway.

What else… Ah, yes. The “15 minute lets find a store and go shopping trip”. For most workplaces in suburban America, that one doesn’t even need rebuttal.

So… yeah. As I’m not allowed to read on the job, the internet is about all I’ve got left. (I’m a librarian, and it sets a bad precedent for patrons to see me reading at my desk in the office fishbowl. I can’t even read when I’m clocked out if I’m in the building. Sucks.)

FTR, our office policy as of the last County Council meeting is that social networking is all taboo, as is any personal site where you would *have *to log in to participate. So, as long as I’m surfing anon, I can hang at the Dope all day - I just can’t post til I get home anymore.

There’s always been the CYA stuff about not dicking around on teh interwebs during company time, and that they can always pull up your surfing history and what you do online if there’s ever a problem, but honestly, when your job is to man a desk in the hope that someone comes by and needs you and you aren’t allowed to get up from said desk for 3 hours at a stretch, there’s no way that human beings aren’t going to do something interesting online to keep their brains from atrophying.

35

OK, minor hijack here: Bad precedent for library patrons to see a librarian reading? That makes my head hurt.

Would you be allowed to read an e-reader if it weren’t obvious to the clientele?

[/hijack]

36

I think this is just turning into a mob mentality thing on both views. Everyone does it, so I’M not wrong in doing it. Everyone does it, so you’re weird for not doing it.

Honestly, if you have to use your work computer for personal internet use (I don’t know why people are bringing up work related internet use) EVERYDAY you probably are addict. Less you’re someone with very specific circumstance (which ONLY one Doper has proved), they are other things you can do in your free time. You just want to play on the internet and are making excuses. Even that one case, you could be using the internet for work related purpose.

I’m going to bow out of this threads, because people just want to make excuses for their behavior. Like I said if we replaced internet with alcohol/smoking/drugs/ect., everyone would be saying you’re addicted to that subtances under these circumstances.

37

Drugs and smoking are ACTUALLY PHYSICALLY ADDICTIVE. Alcohol might be (not sure, it may only be psychologically), but either way, being drunk or buzzed actually, negatively affects your workplace performance, unlike browsing the internet. It’s not even apples to oranges, it’s apples to orangutans.

But you still haven’t answered the question: what about it is wasting or squandering company resources. Assuming I have my own cubicle (i.e. it’s not a shared computer or a lab), nobody else will be using it while I’m gone. The electricity used browsing is negligible compared to an idle computer, as is the bandwidth for strictly text sites or low quality (i.e. youtube) videos.

Either way, right now I’m a student, so I’m arguing on philosophical grounds at the moment, not “excusing” anything I, personally, do. Not to mention I’ve gone a couple weeks without using the internet (except perhaps for the odd email to keep in touch with a professor/colleague/assignment partner), so I doubt it’s addiction so much as a lot of the stuff I do like to do just so happens to be on the internet. Hell, for the last year or so most of my Friday and Saturday nights have been without internet due to travelling out of town to visit someone and being without a laptop.

Edit: Besides, you’re acting like the internet is one homogeneous blob. It’s not, there are, you know, disparate things you can do on the internet. You can look at news, watch videos, do sudoku and crossword puzzles. Most of the stuff you COULD bring to work in a backpack you could also just do on the internet and save yourself the trouble instead of having to lug around a DVD Player, a newspaper, a book, a gameboy… I think you’re mistaking convenience for addiction.

38

I think it’s totally up to the company. For those of us who work in a call center environment, there is nothing to do between calls. The lucky ones get internet access. I work at home, online so I use my own computer between calls (else they’d be spying on me.)

OT: How do you all keep each other straight with no avatars? This is going to be very strange for me.

39

Yes, because when everyone else disagrees with you, they’re the ones that are wrong. When the only way you can further your argument is to insult people, you’re the one that’s right. And when people get upset when you intentionally insult people, it’s because they know you’re right.

40

You just learn names and writing styles. Don’t go into ATMB and ask for avatars, this place is rather… steadfast about allowing any changes to the board in general, and especially staunch about anything related to images.