Posting Date: August 23, 2002

Web Addiction on the Rise -- "Separately released statistics state that 70 percent of Internet pornography traffic occurs during the 9-5 workday. Research from IDC claims that 30-40 percent of all Internet surfing is non-work related, and Nielsen/NetRatings states that 60 percent of online purchases are made during business work hours."

Reader Comments...

I suggest a simpler explanation. Porn hogs are unemployed married wankers. They surf porn at home during the day, and stop when their wives get home after work.

I'd like to know how they tracked 9-5 usage given the differing time zones. How exactly do you even collect the data? Are porn sites opening their traffic logs to research firms?

Posted by: Jack on August 23, 2002 07:24 AM

Who Paid For The Research:
Websense produces Employee Internet Management software, an Internet filtering solution that manages, analyzes and reports on employee use of the Internet.

Another of their 'reports':
Websense estimates that Internet misuse is costing U.K. businesses approximately Ł9.6 billion annually
hey it must be 10 billion by now. If they include toilet breaks, smoking breaks and just ordinary skiving then we'll soon be costing more than they actually make...

Example Of A Much Better Poll from Harris:
17 million people have tried to impersonate Elvis

Posted by: Mac on August 23, 2002 08:06 AM

I had exactly the same thought as Jack - how do you know it's 9 to 5 if you don't know where the person is located geographically? Given that a huge proportion of traffic to servers in the USA is from places on the other side of the world, such statements are nonsense. A candidate for the spurious statistics page?

Posted by: Alan Fisher on August 23, 2002 11:31 AM

The first time I read the headlines, I thought I saw "Webword addiction on the rise!" ;)

BTW, John, when are you announcing our esteemed guest bloggers?

Posted by: MadMan on August 23, 2002 11:50 AM

My workplace encourages a bit of built-in goofing off during office hours and lets employees stay after their regular workshift to surft personal sites at will. As long as you meet all of your goals and basically put in 40 hours of work per week, they don't care when you surf.

My home connection is crap, so I do personal surfing at work on lunch break.

I wonder how many people that fall within these statistics work at places with a similar policy?

Posted by: Lydia on August 23, 2002 03:43 PM

Subscribe to Webword.com
Receive the best free usability newsletter on the Internet.

URL: http://webword.com/weblog/