How has cyber technology created opportunities for workplace deviance? – This is an important topic to discuss as it can lead to a numerous amount of negative workplace outcomes. As technology keeps improving and has opened up a new place for cyber culture, there are pristine variants of deviance and social control. Some people can use technology as a way to get away from traditional society norms. An example of this comes from the USA. In the USA, office individuals are prompted to be consistent in being efficient, productive. and focused on their tasks. Most companies have built high-speed internet access as a means of improving productivity, but some employees use this to go to websites and other things that do not involve their work. This procrastination and corporate inefficiency is called “cyberloafing.” In addition to the variants in the traditional society norms, there have been new forms of deviance that have started to surface within the cyber culture. With new technologies, there are new standards in organizations on how to work with these new devices. Unfortunately, the behaviors of deviant employees have a negative effect on the productivity of an organization. The more serious cases of deviant behavior involve property deviance. Property deviance is when an employee damages an employer’s property without authorization from the employer. This version of deviance includes but is not limited to: theft, sabotage, intentional errors in work, and the misuse of expense accounts. Though there are new variants of deviance because of technological advances, there are also new ways to control deviance. In a response to cyberloafing, organizations have made new technologies to monitor employees’ computers and restrict social networking during their workday. Some of these methods include installing proxy servers to prevent programs from accessing resources like social media, games, and more. Some other methods include having a carrot-and-stick measure, such as providing free or subsidized Internet access for employees outside of working hours.
references – https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Sociology/Introduction_to_Sociology/Sociology_(Boundless)/07%3A_Deviance_Social_Control_and_Crime/7.01%3A_Deviance/7.1D%3A_Deviance_and_Technology
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