Pakistani office-goers biggest passtime, Facebook-Oct 22, 2010,

Pakistani office-goers biggest passtime, Facebook

IANS, Oct 22, 2010, 02.18pm IST

Facebook tops the list of office time wasters in Pakistan
IALAMABAD: Facebook is right on top of the list of activities on which office-goers in Pakistan waste their time, a survey said.

The Daily Times undertook a survey to find out how Pakistanis kill time in office. It showed that besides gossiping on the office premises, there are a slew of web-based applications that people are hooked to.

Among these, Facebook tops the list of office time wasters, the survey showed. Earlier, people wasted time through the MSN Messenger. But over the years other chatting software has been developed.

Now, Twitter, online video games and popular video search engine YouTube are among the top office time wasters. With the advent of mobile internet and BlackBerry phones, accessing these Web applications is not difficult at all, the media report said.

Employees, who admitted that they use Facebook, said there was no harm in it as long as they did their work on time. Khurram Fayyaz, an employee at an advertising agency, said Facebook had become as important as checking email.

"I myself play video games when I feel bored and check my Facebook account and almost all of my colleagues do the same, except for the ones that are above 50," he was quoted as saying.

Choreographer and painter Shiraz Malik said that Facebook isn't just a tool to remain connected with friends or to socialise. Facebook is the first to come up with an interface that allows users to chat, post comments, upload pictures and form a network of friends depending on their hobbies and similar characteristics due to which people are turning towards it, he said.