If ever proof was needed to justify the fickle nature of the human mind, this is it – it was not long ago that Facebook, Twitter and other social networks were being blamed for the decrease in office productivity because employees were wasting their time updating their statuses, leaving comments on their friends’ photos and status messages, and trying out the numerous applications that litter the online social world. But a recent study by an Australian university has suggested that Facebook, Twitter and the rest of their ilk can actually improve office productivity.

This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson.  It expands on my interview with ABC-KFO radio and my article, “Facebook, Twitter, and Productivity.” 

Say what? Yes, you read that right – wasting your time online can actually make you more productive in the office. If you’re asking how, the study states that workplace Internet leisure browsing (WILB – another new acronym that we can soon expect to see included in the Oxford and Webster’s dictionaries) helps boost concentration and allows employees to focus better.

While it is true that a short break helps employees work more efficiently and boosts productivity at the office, this is not relevant when it comes to using the Internet for leisure activities. For one, this survey does not include people who are addicted to the web and who remain online all the time or for the better part of the day. And for another, when it comes to social networks, it’s hard to find the motivation to get back to work when there are more interesting things to be done online.

The Internet has redefined the word addiction and given it a new twist – what we earlier mainly associated with drugs, alcohol and cigarettes has now moved on to all things that are not productive (this again depends on one’s perception of and the meaning each of us assign to the word productivity) and that we spend way too much time on. It is worse than drugs or alcohol in a way because we don’t realize it is bad or addictive unless we are already trapped in the net.  

So while you may initially go online with good intentions – for example, you may need to do some research for your latest assignment – you tend to get caught up in the various email IDs you have, reading chain mails and forwarding them to your “friends”, playing Farmville or any other of the hundreds of thousands of applications on Facebook, or just jumping from one random site to the other without really doing anything worthwhile. And before you know it, you’ve lost track of time and your whole day has been taken up to wander aimlessly on the Internet.

So you can see how social networks could become detrimental to office productivity, no matter what the study says. Yes, browsing the Web for leisure could be a welcome break that may rejuvenate you and motivate you to stick to time management strategies, but only if you are aware that it could become an addiction and that you must have the determination to stick to your time limit and get back to work once you’re done taking a break.

This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of accelerated online degrees.   Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson1@gmail.com.