When Metzti Bryan tried to check Facebook at work a few months ago, the familiar white and blue layout of the social networking website didn’t load. Instead, she was taken to a page with a stern message: “This site is prohibited.”
In the weeks that followed, other sites were added to the blocked list: Twitter, PerezHilton.com and even the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation’s website.
Her co-workers were not pleased.
“There was a big uproar,” said Ms. Bryan, 27.
But soon after, tempers cooled. It turned out that getting around the restrictions was easy. Ms. Bryan and her colleagues sometimes sneak in to the studio at her workplace – the only area where Facebook isn’t blocked – to get their fix. She also borrowed a co-worker’s iPhone regularly to check Facebook during breaks before caving and buying her own Blackberry last month.
Her office is like many others across the country, where managers are cracking down on non-work-related internet browsing. Last week, Robert Half Technology, a California-based research firm, surveyed 270 chief information officers in Canada about how they restrict employees’ Web use. Fifty-eight per cent said workers were completely prohibited from visiting social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
Those suits won’t let you update your status or check up on Mariah’s Twitter. But as companies are cracking down on social networking at the office, employees are fighting back with stealth ways to stay in touch with the outside.
But while the move by companies and school boards to block sites deemed productivity killers is on the rise, so are attempts by resourceful employees and students to dodge those barriers, using mobile devices or connecting through proxy servers. Getting around restrictions comes with its own risks, though: You could be opening your computer to attack or face disciplinary action.
Nicole Haggerty, an associate professor at the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario, said managers need to realize that many employees see themselves as multitaskers. “I think most young workers feel a little resentful and put out that organizations would presume that they’re wasting company time.”
Michael Moski, 23, a technical support worker at the University of Winnipeg, said all gaming websites are blocked at his office, including review sites.
“When a company blocks websites, it’s a show of mistrust,” he said. “When I notice a block, I try to find ways to circumvent [it].”
For him, that means paying $70 a month for a mobile data plan so he can get barrier-free access to restricted websites on his iPhone.
Kimberly Yap, 16, feels the Facebook itch about four or five times a day. But last year, administrators at her Whitby, Ont. high school blocked access because they said the site was a breeding ground for online bullying. Never doubt the ingenuity of a social network-addicted teen, however: Kimberly logs on to the site at school by connecting to an unrestricted wireless network on her iPod Touch. And she says hordes of students at her school have outsmarted the firewall by logging on to proxy sites such as hidemyass.com, which allow them to connect to their website of choice through another server.
When a company blocks websites, it’s a show of mistrust. When I notice a block, I try to find ways to circumvent [it]. — Michael Moski, a technical support worker at the University of Winnipeg
Of course, some of the bigger school boards and corporations are well aware of these workarounds.
Mark Guntrip, a spokesperson for ScanSafe, a web security firm, said his products block proxy servers – but he anticipates users will still find ways to get around that.
“They say, ‘If you block me one way, I’ll find another way to get there.' "
But even the most resourceful minds risk punishment.
