The Blogs That Ate Productivity
I hesitate to point this out, being part of a blog and all, but a new Advertising Age (registration required) analysis claims that the blogosphere is taking a considerable chunk out of America's productivity (hat tip, Romenesko). In a stunning figure, the analysis claims U.S. workers will spend the equivalent of 551,000 years reading blogs at the workplace this year – about 9% of each week's time.
I think it's pretty clear that the number of those who might still harbor the thought that blogs are a passing fad, the pet rock of the new century, have been rapidly vanishing. If at all accurate, this makes that kind of thinking extinct. Blogs are, at least for now, a permanent part of our media world. But studies like this one should make cagey bloggers worried, not doing victory dances.
According to Advertising Age, employers thus far are looking the other way and taking the approach that a happy worker is a good worker. But it also warns that sentiment may be fleeting. It's not hard to see business conferences in the near future with entire panels and presentations designed to help employers battle this loss of productivity, especially if the numbers continue to grow and blog traffic remains at a peak during working hours. Will this be an issue for the blogosphere to worry about in the future?
© 2005 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved. I think it's pretty clear that the number of those who might still harbor the thought that blogs are a passing fad, the pet rock of the new century, have been rapidly vanishing. If at all accurate, this makes that kind of thinking extinct. Blogs are, at least for now, a permanent part of our media world. But studies like this one should make cagey bloggers worried, not doing victory dances.
According to Advertising Age, employers thus far are looking the other way and taking the approach that a happy worker is a good worker. But it also warns that sentiment may be fleeting. It's not hard to see business conferences in the near future with entire panels and presentations designed to help employers battle this loss of productivity, especially if the numbers continue to grow and blog traffic remains at a peak during working hours. Will this be an issue for the blogosphere to worry about in the future?
