Digital Detour: Survey Reveals 77% of American Office Workers Browse “Guilty Pleasure” Websites Before Work

Office Workers Browse Guilty Pleasure Websites

How do you start your workday? While most employers would love to convince themselves that everyone is getting straight down to work, the reality is most of us grab a cup of coffee and ease into office life with a little bit of scrolling.

Perhaps we’re catching up with industry news or trending topics related to our career, or maybe we’re catching up on the weekend’s sporting results or seeing what our friends have been up to on social media.

To look into this further, we carried out a survey of 3,000+ in-office employees to find out how they like to start the workweek.

From asking the respondents what websites they visit when they first log in at work to discovering their daily browsing habits, we endeavored to uncover exactly what employees are searching for while on the boss’ dime.

The results are certainly interesting!

Work or Play? Most Employees Browse Social Media

So, what’s the first website the majority of employees log on to when sitting down at their desks? For 32% of survey respondents, they’re heading straight to social media, checking out some Instagram stories, logging on to Facebook, or watching videos on TikTok.

A further 20% said they check out the latest sports results and news on sites like ESPN. On the other hand, 17% say they place their orders for the week ahead with a little bit of online shopping, followed by 15% who instead like to check out mindless lifestyle content on sites like BuzzFeed or Reddit.

Interestingly, only 13% of respondents said their go-to sites in the morning are work-related industry news or LinkedIn updates. Finally, a minority, 3%, like to check up on the latest general news by clicking on the likes of CNN or Fox News.

Here are the most popular results from respondents in each state:

StateTop Choice
AlabamaSports (e.g., ESPN, sports blogs)
AlaskaWork-related (e.g., LinkedIn, industry news)
ArizonaSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
ArkansasSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
CaliforniaShopping (e.g., Amazon, eBay)
ColoradoSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
ConnecticutSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
DelawareSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
FloridaSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
GeorgiaSports (e.g., ESPN, sports blogs)
HawaiiSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
IdahoSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
IllinoisSports (e.g., ESPN, sports blogs)
IndianaSports (e.g., ESPN, sports blogs)
IowaSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
KansasNews (e.g., CNN, BBC, local news)
KentuckySocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
LouisianaSports (e.g., ESPN, sports blogs)
MaineSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
MarylandSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
MassachusettsSports (e.g., ESPN, sports blogs)
MichiganSports (e.g., ESPN, sports blogs)
MinnesotaSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
MississippiSports (e.g., ESPN, sports blogs)
MissouriSports (e.g., ESPN, sports blogs)
MontanaLifestyle/Entertainment (e.g., Buzzfeed, Reddit)
NebraskaNews (e.g., CNN, BBC, local news)
NevadaSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
New HampshireNews (e.g., CNN, BBC, local news)
New JerseySports (e.g., ESPN, sports blogs)
New MexicoSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
New YorkSports (e.g., ESPN, sports blogs)
North CarolinaSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
North DakotaSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
OhioSports (e.g., ESPN, sports blogs)
OklahomaSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
OregonNews (e.g., CNN, BBC, local news)
PennsylvaniaSports (e.g., ESPN, sports blogs)
Rhode IslandSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
South CarolinaLifestyle/Entertainment (e.g., Buzzfeed, Reddit)
South DakotaSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
TennesseeSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
TexasSports (e.g., ESPN, sports blogs)
UtahShopping (e.g., Amazon, eBay)
VermontNews (e.g., CNN, BBC, local news)
VirginiaShopping (e.g., Amazon, eBay)
WashingtonShopping (e.g., Amazon, eBay)
West VirginiaLifestyle/Entertainment (e.g., Buzzfeed, Reddit)
WisconsinSports (e.g., ESPN, sports blogs)
WyomingSocial media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)

The survey found that employees spend an average of 16 minutes browsing each morning before actually buckling down and getting some work done.

When asked what their guilty pleasure website is first thing in the morning, this is what our survey respondents had to say:

  • A shopping site (e.g., Amazon flash deals, Target): 54%
  • A meme or humor page (e.g., 9GAG, The Onion): 29%
  • A gossip site (e.g., TMZ, Perez Hilton): 10%
  • A dating app (e.g., Tinder, Bumble): 7%

In terms of the most bizarre sites employees have ever browsed during work hours, 17% said they had visited some weird conspiracy sites.

Don’t Tell the Boss!

But what happens if you’re the boss? Interested to know just how many employees are doing something other than work during their 9 to 5?

According to our survey, 20% of employees admit they visit non-work-related websites frequently (a few times) throughout the day.

Although 8% said they are often (almost hourly) on non-work-related sites, the majority (47%) said they only occasionally (once or twice a day) check out something that isn’t related to their job. The remaining 25% said they never visit something that isn’t work-related while at the office.

“It’s safe to say that most employees initially go straight to something other than work,” said Joe Warnimont, Senior Tech Writer at HostingAdvice. “The good news for employers is that those websites often cause little harm outside of some wasted minutes in the morning, and you could argue that, just like their morning coffee, that 16 minutes of guilty pleasure browsing is simply a necessity to get the motor running in the morning. And that aligns with the fact that most people don’t actually visit non-work sites continually throughout the day.”

one in five admit  they frequently visit non-work-related websites during work hours

In a separate question, 49% of respondents said if you were to review their browsing history, it would show they’re simply trying to survive the day!

When questioned as to whether their boss could see their browser history, how embarrassed would they feel, this is what our survey respondents said:

  • Totally fine – I’m a digital saint: 54%
  • Mildly nervous – some guilty pleasures in there: 31%
  • Panicked – they’d definitely call me out: 8%
  • Mortified – I’d be looking for a new job tomorrow: 7%

Furthermore, 13% of employees admitted to opening up a fake work tab to hide their browsing in case their boss or colleagues walked past while they were scrolling, and they needed to quickly switch to looking proactive.

Moving On To the Next Best Thing

What happens when you’re looking to move on to the next best thing in your career? Are you searching for new job prospects after hours, or are you using work time to search job portals? Nineteen percent of survey respondents say that they are secretly planning their next employment opportunity at work.

15 percent have used a fake work tab to hide their browsing

If their browsing habits were analyzed to predict their next career move, 7% said it would predict they were likely to be fired. Conversely, 25% of survey respondents did say that their browsing data would predict that they’re on track for a promotion.

What about you? What’s the first website you’ll be opening when you head into work next?

Will you be among the well-heeled minority, catching up on industry information, or will you digress with the rest of us, scrolling mainstream news sites and social media before catching up on emails or heading into your first meeting of the day?

Methodology:

We selected 3,002 employees from a geographically representative online panel of double-opt-in members. This selection was further tailored to meet the precise criteria required for each unique survey.

Throughout the survey, we designed questions to screen and authenticate respondents carefully, guaranteeing the survey’s alignment with the ideal participants.

To ensure the integrity of our data collection, we employed an array of data quality methods. Alongside conventional measures such as digital fingerprinting, bot checks, geo-verification, and speeding detection, each response underwent a thorough review by a dedicated team member to ensure quality and contextual accuracy.

Our commitment extended to open-ended responses, subjecting them to scrutiny for gibberish answers and plagiarism detection.