Facebook Makes Employees Work Harder: Study
By CAITLIN MILLAT
Updated 8:29 AM PST, Thu, Apr 2, 2009
Next time you're bored at work, Facebook away - it could help you do a better job.
Visiting social sites like Facebook and YouTube at the workplace helps employees recharge and makes their concentration better, ultimately increasing productivity, a new study by the University of Melbourne found.
People who use the Internet at work for personal reasons are nearly 10 percent more efficient than those who don't because they let their minds take a virtual "break" from pushing papers, the study revealed.
"People need to zone out for a bit to get back their concentration," said Dr. Brent Coker, one of the study's authors.
University of Melbourne researchers followed the habits of 300 workers, 70 percent of whom used the Internet to engage in leisurely Internet browing on social sites.
"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," Coker said on the university's Web site.
Employees should be wary of spending too much time online - more than 14 percent of the study participants showed they had an extreme addiction to surfing the 'Net, researchers found.
First Published: Apr 2, 2009 7:22 AM PST
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