Slackers go shopping and stuff

Shopping web sites are cited as the major cause of internet slacking while at work, according to research carried out by the YouGov polling organisation.

Up to two days per month could be wasted by employees aimlessly surfing the net, shopping online or otherwise “going off at a tangent” in the course of searching online for legitimate business reasons. Wilf-ing, short for “what was I looking for”, is not solely restricted to the workplace and can occur at home too. More than two-thirds of the UK’s online population are said to be affected. Men are the biggest sufferers.

Commissioned by moneysupermarket.com, the research indicates that when people log on with a purpose in mind, information over-load can often take over. Being presented with so much information and distractions, the wilf-er soon forgets why they are online.

It is, for companies with an online presence, a worrying finding, especially when combined with the already recognised phenomenon of over-choice, having too many choices and not making a purchasing decision due to a fear of making the wrong choice.

Expect a techno-web backlash some time soon.