INTERNET NAZIS

Internet filtering and blocking is fascism, plain and simple. I understand your employer hired you to do a job which you need to be doing while on the clock. On the other side of the coin, you are not a slave or a machine. Everyone needs breaks and a break is a break so let us spend it how we choose.

I think it's ridiculous to control what people look at online while at work. Obviously your albino midget porn probably isn't the best thing to view around your co-workers as their might be an easily offended cretin in your midst. But if your productivity is good and you're a hard worker then what's the big deal? All you're doing is making your employees resent you and cause interoffice tension. Fear and tyrannical control makes a person instinctively want to rebel and work just enough to keep you off their back. Praise and freedom instills a worker with company pride, loyalty and strengthens their work ethic.

Personally, I never take smoke breaks or any kind of typical break. I pretty much stay planted in front of my monitor all day minus refilling my coffee cup or making deposits in the bathroom. The closest thing I like to use as a break is a quick jump over to check my bank account, hurriedly see what new messages I have in Hotmail or check up briefly on Facebook. I used the words briefly, hurriedly and quick on purpose because I typically only "surf" for less than five minutes, tops. It breaks up the monotony of my day and keeps me semi-sane. You can only stare at a screen and do the same repetitive task for so long with out it wearing you down and burning you out. I could care less about smoking, so do as you please. But if you allow people to inhale cancer then why can't I have a moment of freedom online? Is your stance of promoting tobacco death more politically correct?

Companies should pride themselves on caring for their employees and treating them like the adults they are. People who don't want to work will always find a way to slack off with or without the web. Monitor an employees performance and judge them solely on that. Don't hate, appreciate.

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"Short and unobtrusive breaks, such as a quick surf of the internet, enables the mind to rest itself, leading to a higher total net concentration for a days work, and as a result, increased productivity."
-Dr Brent Coker, from the Department of Management and Marketing

“If you can’t trust your employees, you have one of two problems. You are hiring the wrong people or you are not properly training the people you hire.”
-B.L. Ochman, author of the What’s Next blog

"I think it's (monitoring) incredibly unnecessary and intrusive. Ultimately, I have always felt I'm most productive when Big Brother isn't looking over my shoulder, and someday companies may learn this as well. As long as you finish you work in a way that shows quality in a timely manner, why do you have to be monitored along the way? Who cares if you slack off and play Doom for an hour or two if you can finish an assignment in less time than the guy next to you?"
-Steve Mizrach, former University of Florida Anthropology Department Webmaster

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Want to know more about the war on blocking and filtering?
Check out these links:
StopBlocking.org
Should Your Employer Stop Blocking?