Now we’re not talking: we’re actually working at work

[TC] Now We’re Not Talking: Telstra Bans Facebook:

Telstra, Australia’s largest telecommunications company, has banned its approximately 49,000 employees from using Facebook. As Cameron Reilly at G’Day World puts it, “This would be a retarded move for ANY company, let alone a company that is trying to position itself as a company that “gets” online.”

I forgot that being hip was more important than being productive nowdays. Let’s look back at what TechCrunch itself has taught us about social networking at work.

[TC] Career Advice: Don’t Spend Half Your Work Day On Facebook And Then Brag About It:

A Goldman Sachs trader in the UK named “Charlie” was warned by his employer that his visits to Facebook on company time were to stop. He spent, apparently, over 500 hours on Facebook in a six month period. That works out to about 4 hours per day.

Perhaps if employees did not spend half their time on Facebook, companies would not be banning it.

WurkPal is something to gossip about

[TC] New Forum Site To Gossip About Work:

I’m just going to touch on Wurkpal briefly. It’s a very simple forum site that is designed specifically for people to gossip/complain/etc. about their work environment anonymously. The site takes a guess as to where you are logging in from based on a reverse hostname lookup and tries to direct you to the correct company forum. You can also view the directory and go from there.

Is today April 1? How does WurkPal manage to get TechCrunch coverage? It’s a forum that atempts to determine where you work based on your IP address. It’s not a secure connection, so the whole “safely chat about your company’s rumors/news” line is a bit bogus. If you are at home, you’re out of luck for sure – the directory link is only found at TechCrunch. Same story if you are trying to access it through an anonymous proxy. Thus, you should not be surprised if HR contacts you for posting juicy gossip there.

I hope the angel funding they are referring to are the sandwiches their mom made them.