Final answer:
Employees waste work time online primarily through social media browsing, followed by entertainment websites, personal emails, and online shopping. Social media is the biggest time-waster due to its design for prolonged engagement, while online shopping is considered the least distracting as it is more task-oriented.
Step-by-step explanation:
When evaluating how employees may waste work time online, there can be variations depending on the workplace and its culture. However, taking into account the prevalence and addictive nature of social platforms, a typical order from bigger time wasters to lesser time wasters might be: social media browsing, entertainment websites, personal emails, and then online shopping.
Browsing social media is often considered the largest time-waster as it is designed to keep users engaged for long periods with endless content. Entertainment websites such as video streaming or gaming sites also consume significant time as they provide continuous and varied entertainment options. Managing personal emails can also distract employees but might be less time-consuming than the previous two. Lastly, online shopping is listed as a lesser time-waster comparatively, as it tends to be more task-oriented and therefore less likely to consume large chunks of time.
Understanding and ranking these distractions can be helpful for businesses looking to improve productivity and for employees aiming to focus better during work hours.