No Joking At Work!

from the it's-all-business-here dept

Just as we were talking about silly studies warning about productivity loss from internet misuse, comes one more study talking about how people (oh no!) send joke emails from their work accounts. This is described, of course, as a misuse of work email. While it may annoy people who really don't want to receive any "friend spam," it hardly seems like an issue to be overly concerned with. It's hard to see how that's any different than telling a joke around the water cooler -- which can help to build a sense of camaraderie and loyalty in the workplace, as well as give a quick break that can make employees more productive. But, rest assured, the company that did the study has a product to stop any such joking around at work. If someone is regularly sending jokes, rather than actually getting their work done, that's a different issue. But sending an occasional joke to colleagues hardly seems like a reason to rush out and clamp down your email system.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    RJD, 18 Mar 2005 @ 6:42am

    Occasional

    Occasional is one of the key words in your statement and 'your friends' is the other key portion. Too often jokes are forward to a group of co-workers, not necessarily friends.

    Everyone at one time or another is offended by a joke that someone makes .. and we walk away or turn a deaf ear. When someone sends it via email, the company is providing an avenue for these perhaps unwanted jokes to a co-worker, who in our litagous society, now has a viable piece of evidence to sue the company .. UNLESS the company has explicit policies in place prohibiting such actions.

    99% of people really don't care. It's the 1% who make it miserable for everyone else and as such, companies must protect the 99% from the harm the 1% may try to do.

    When in doubt, blame the lawyers.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Tim, 18 Mar 2005 @ 7:53am

    Re: Occasional

    Set up mailing-lists for the purpose, maybe, including a separate one for jokes more likely to offend. Or, indeed, restrict it to folks you *know* will be able to cope, ie, what passes for a friendly colleague.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Doug, 18 Mar 2005 @ 11:09am

    Re: Occasional

    Absolutely.... and make sure you ASK them for permission to send them jokes, with the disclaimer that some of the material may be offensive. (Sometimes, they come to me and ask to be put on the list). Other things you should do is to hide your co-worker's addresses behind BCC. This helps protect against spam harvesters.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    thecaptain, 18 Mar 2005 @ 11:51am

    No Subject Given

    the PROBLEM with the people who send jokes in email is that for 90% of them, its NOT an occasional thing...its 5-6 times a day AND here's the important part...they ALSO forward every damn HOAX and myth they receive.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.