DOs AND DON’Ts OF INTERNET USE AT WORK

1. SURF WISELY

Most of the organizations do not really care even if you use internet up to a certain limit for your personal use like checking your e-mail, replying to your e-mails or reading highlight news. But you should use the internet wisely. If your company is not too strict in its internet use policy, it does not mean you can do whatever you want over the internet while at work. Use of websites that you should not be even assessing publicly can put you in deep trouble. If you think you can assess them anonymously, think again because most of the companies have software that monitors the websites visited by their employees. 

2. DO NOT USE BAD LANGUAGE

E-mails are the main means of communication in business. Anytime you send an email, check and double check, the content of your email. Try to avoid content that might be taken badly by others. There have been incidences where companies got sued because of what their employees were writing, and forwarding on as well. A British survey found that one in 20 participants had either been fired or scolded at work for sending inappropriate messages. About a third of 2,000 people surveyed admitted to erroneously clicking on “reply all” instead of “reply”, while 13 per cent admitted to sending an email accidentally insulting a colleague, to the person they were insulting itself.

3. DO NOT SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON PERSONAL ACTIVITIES

An organization’s time is valuable and they pay their employees to make it more profitable and carry out the day to day business activities. If the employees of an organization are spending way too much time on the internet catering to their personal needs, the organization is doing business at a loss. In such a scenario, the organization will be happy to let you go and handle your personal matters at home instead of bringing them to work and wasting time.

4. BE CAREFUL ON SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

Always bear in mind that everything you post on social networking sites such as twitter, Facebook, blogger or any other, is assessable by everyone. It does have privacy settings but every photo uploaded by you or your status update can be viewed by your friends and it just keeps rotating around and you never know who is viewing your profile. Posting negatively about your job, your colleagues and your boss can get back at you and be used against you. So always think twice before posting anything or uploading any photo. 
Facebook even though it promises full privacy can turn out to be one of the reasons to get you fired; for more information, please visit:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-47540281/facebook--your-job-5-ways-to-get-fired/

5. COMPANY POLICY

Take time to read company’s policy about the use of internet and other resources. If there is none, talk to your manager or Team Leader in case the company does not permit use of internet for personal use at all. Talk to your colleagues in case, there were any incidents that might help you become more aware about company’s policy in different areas.