If it’s not online shopping or paying bills electronically, then it’s viewing the newest YouTube phenomenon, ‘tweeting’ on Twitter or writing on a pal’s wall in FaceBook.

Most employees can’t resist going online at some point during the day. Some 82 percent of employees use social networks and social media sites for personal reasons at work, according to a 2008 survey of 500 IT managers and end users by FaceTime, a Belmont, Calif. technology firm that specializes in security. Fifty-one percent of end-users admit to using these sites at least once per day. Twenty-six percent access them several times a day.

In fact, many see personal online pursuits as a natural part of their workday and a benefit to their employers. Belt-tightening managers, however, do not always share that view.

“Many corporations seem to limit what people can or cannot do at work or what sites they can or cannot visit. They look at it from a ‘You are wasting company time’ perspective,” says L. J. Jones, an Internet marketing strategist in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In organizations that have an Internet-use policy, workers would do well to take it seriously. As companies downsize, they may study Internet usage to determine who is wasting time on the bosses’ dime.

Yet online habits may prove difficult to reform. A full 72 percent of workers believe they should have full access to social networking sites for personal reasons at work, according to a survey by 8e6 Technologies, an Internet security company in Orange, Calif. The 8e6 survey found that 63 percent of employees access personal e-mail at work.

These types of findings are prompting organizations of all sizes to consider tightening policies. 8e6 Technologies leaders say Internet-use policies safeguard against security and regulatory risks associated with employee Internet use. Employers also have long been worried that Web surfing and social networking sites sap time and productivity.

The American Management Association and The ePolicy Institute reported last year that 28 percent of employers have fired workers for misusing e-mail and nearly 30 percent have fired employees for misusing the Internet. The survey found that 66 percent of employers monitor employees’ online usage for inappropriate Web surfing, including adult sites with sexual, romantic or pornographic content, game sites and social networking sites.

Even in organizations with more liberal policies, employees should use common sense, says Alex Salkever, director of research and marketing at the stock research site Piqqem.com. The San Francisco startup doesn’t mind if its workers use the Internet as long as they produce and meet deadlines.

“If they are very productive, we don’t pay attention. When someone drops below expected performance, then we start to pay closer attention,” he adds.

Although the company doesn’t have a fixed Internet policy at work, Salkever says there is a consensus, “common-sense” policy that everyone follows: no porn, no offensive content, no politically charged content and no audio without headphones. The company allows occasional online shopping and bill-paying.

“Responding to comments and bulletin boards that are not work-related is not OK. In fact, it’s a waste of our time,” he says.

Experts suggest that employees be respectful of an employer’s policies and wishes. Some technology, such as instant messaging, can help with productivity at work, unless, of course, you’re using chat to blast your boss or the company. Use of social networking sites such as Facebook also can be helpful, if a company understands the benefits of allowing employees to engage in conversations with clients and prospects. Nowadays, what may be considered as waste to one company could be regarded to another as an investment.

Jones, the Utah strategist, says that he often advises companies to allow and even encourage employees to participate in social networks.

“The balance between wasting time and using it for marketing is about having an objective and setting guidelines for participation,” he says. “With objectives and guidelines in hand, employees can participate on the Internet and make good use of their company time.”