The Christian Science Monitor reports that Kentucky has blocked state employee’s access to “blogs as well as humor, religion, and online auction websites after it was deemed that [they] were spending too much time on the Internet.”
This is a bad idea. Granted, there are lots of blogs that do nothing to advance work flow and productivity – BUT there are plenty of others that do – including WisBlawg. Reminds me of the debates a few years back about blocking employee’s access to the Internet as a whole.
Regardless of the lost potential for research value, blacklisting blogs is simply harmful to workplace morale according to those interviewed for the article.
- “Whether in [private or public] workplaces, are you going to create a culture of mutual trust or a Big Brother ‘we’re watching your every move’ environment?” says Zachary Hummel, a workplace attorney at Bryan Cave LLP in New York.
- “It looks petty, and it’s probably ineffective,” says Glenn Reynolds, author of “An Army of Davids” about the rise of a tech-enabled entrepreneurial class.
- “We try to treat people as adults,” says Otto Doll, South Dakota’s chief information officer.
Source: Law Librarian Blog