Cyber-slacking at work

The employee sits at her desk staring intensely at her computer screen. Is she analyzing a document of major import to her company's future? She furrows her eyebrows and begins typing rapidly. Is she approaching the deadline for a big project?

Well, actually, it's neither.

What she's really doing is bidding on an antique vase at eBay, which is much more exciting than tabulating monthly gross sales or whatever else it is that she gets paid to do.

This office worker, like many of us, is a cyber-slacker, secretly trolling the Internet during the weekdays on nonwork-related business: checking her bank account, shopping for birthday gifts and updating her Match.com profile.

Compared to traditional goofing off, electronic loafing is so easy. You're not loitering at the coffee machine, or taking an extra hour at lunch to shop, or reading Us Weekly with your feet kicked up on your desk. You're sitting in your chair, appearing to do real work.

Maybe that's why trolling the Internet has become such a popular workaday pastime.