Productivity suffers when
tools become addictive



Published: Friday, August 30, 2002 

By KEVIN FERGUSON 

Employees waste more than eight hours per work week surfing Web
sites unrelated to work, according to a new survey, suggesting the
Internet is leading to problems with productivity. 

What's more, most misuses of the Internet on the job involve not
pornography or gambling sites, but rather shopping and news sites. 

According to the Harris Interactive survey, 67 percent of workers
access news sites for personal reasons, and 37 percent shop and bid
for items at the office. The survey polled 305 employees and 250
human resources managers nationally from companies with up to
38,000 workers. 

By contrast, only 2 percent admit to compulsively surfing porn sites or
gambling online at work, the survey says. 

Those numbers don't surprise Robert Bischoff a Cupertino-based
psychologist practicing in Internet dependency. He says employees are
less likely to surf sex and betting sites at work because they know the
employer may be monitoring surfing habits. 

"[Yet] shopping and news sites are just as addictive," Bischoff says.
"Certain people can't go very long without checking their eBay bids." 

That's for sure, says Marlene Maheu, a San Diego-based psychologist
and expert in problematic Internet behavior, who assisted in the
research for the Harris poll. The survey was commissioned by research
firm Websense Inc. in San Diego. 

"Studies have shown that 25 to 50 percent of [compulsive Web surfing]
is occurring at the workplace," she says. "That means employees are
getting paid to participate in activities that are not work-related." 

Of human resources managers polled, 78 percent percent say their
companies have written rules on appropriate and inappropriate use of
the Internet. 

Still, 25 percent of employees report feeling addicted to the Internet,
and only 8 percent of companies report any knowledge of workplace
cyber-addiction, the survey says. 

One of the biggest challenges of curbing the misuse of the Internet at
work, experts say, is that Web surfing is often done in anonymity. 

That's another reason why it's nearly impossible to grasp the magnitude
of compulsive Internet behavior on the workplace or even on society,
Maheu and other experts say. 

Maheu tries to avoid the use of "addiction" when speaking about
compulsive Internet use because she says there is a fine line between
people who are overly obsessive about the Internet and other
employees who occasionally click away from the task at hand, for
example, to check a sports update or stock quote. 

Finding help for a compulsive Web surfer may also be just as
challenging -- even in the global technology hub of Silicon Valley. 

"It may be ironic, but most Internet addiction support groups are groups
that meet online," says Bischoff, whose been treating
computer-addicted clients since the mid 1980s. "It's an addiction that
doesn't lend itself to the kind of people that like to be in social settings."

It's a disease of isolation, says Fred, a San Jose resident, who is a
recovering Internet porn addict. (He requested to keep his last name
anonymous.) 

A big part of the adrenaline rush came from surfing for nude photos in
secrecy, he says. 

"When you let the secret out, it doesn't have so much power over you,"
says Fred, who had help overcoming his addiction by attending Sex
and Love Addicts Anonymous. 

While many employers block pornographic and gambling sites, other
addictive categories of sites -- like shopping and play-for-fun game
sites -- are not blocked. 

And that is part of the reason the misuse of computers at work is a
growing problem, Maheu says. 

Maheu is treating a high-level executive in Southern California that
struggles to pull herself away from computer mastery games. 

"She appears to be working as she sits at her computer," Maheu says.
"But she goes home and stays up late playing the game, [too]. Then,
she oversleeps and has to call in to her office to let them know she will
be late." 

Experts that study compulsive computer abuse say that employers will
have to cast a wider Web-blocking net in the future -- beyond just porn
and gambling sites -- because it's clear that addictive cyber content
comes in many forms. 

"I think it's necessary because employees are spending a lot of time
shopping," Maheu says. 

Kevin Ferguson is a Biz Ink reporter. 
You can reach him at kferguson@svbizink.com.


Enjoying Biz Ink online? Why not subscribe today and never miss an issue! 


© 2002 Silicon Valley Business Ink. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistribution directly or indirectly in any
medium. Neither these Silicon Valley Business Ink. materials nor any portion thereof may be
stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. Silicon Valley Business Ink. will
not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission
or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing.