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Today's Quote: Are You Disconnected from the Outside World at Work?

By Lynne DeVenny

And so, as social media and the Web in general become increasingly crucial tools for New York's ruling class, analysts at banks, paralegals at law firms, even employees of some news organizations and publishing houses must endure Web restrictions that are shaping their lives, isolating them from friends and generally disconnecting them from the outside world. ~ Excerpt from New York Observer's July 20, 2010 article, "Stop! Restricted Site! With No Facebook or G-Chat at Work, It's All Hands on Deck for the City's Ruling Class".

What Internet filters or restrictions does your employer have, if any? Should we be completely restricted from accessing personal email or social media sites during the day, or does a little bit of access during downtime increase work productivity and morale? This interesting article provides some food for thought - and some tips for climbing over those pesky blocks set up by the IT department. (Hint, a smart phone is one way to go, although it's not especially discreet if you don't have your own office.)

You know my mantra, "Your work computer isn't really yours." Know your employer's Internet policies, and if they're wide open, don't abuse them. But keep in mind that you might not know what Web-policing an employer has installed at any given time. A friend of mine recently told me that when she worked at a BigLaw firm, employees received a printout of every website they'd visited at the end of each month.

Now that's food for thought.

Source: New York Observer

Full post as published by Practical Paralegalism on July 21, 2010 (boomark / email).