Goofing off online = productivity?

That seems to be the surprising equation drawn up by researchers at Ohio State University, who looked into the merits of cyber-slacking, according to (gulp) the Associated Press. The researchers found that:

a) serial cyber-slacking is not just for bored worker drones. Even the boss is doing it.
b) and, more importantly, that companies draconian measures to ban workplace personal email or even social network usage comes with costs. People use these tools to make their home-work balance more efficient. Once the babysitter, plumber and shopping list is taken care of in a 5-minute email, a worker can get back to the task at hand.

One area the study did not touch on is the inspiration factor. A quick passaggiatta through YouTube, Facebook or favourite blogs, can keep workers not only more informed about the world around them, but also, for some anyhow, inspired to be a bit more creative. Just look at how creative the NY Times was with this AP story. Scroll over the name of the first researcher hyper-linked in the article, R. Kelly Garrett. Ouch.

- Bernhard