Blog 4 Whether it is necessary to use monitors?

Last week we talked about whether it was necessary to have monitors everywhere, especially in the offices for employers to keep an eye on their employees. Being interested in this topic, I tried to clear up my mind and think more in depth after our class discussion. Here I would like to share my opinion with you.

In the first place, to view it at an individual level, it seems that no matter where and when the monitor is used to keep track of a person is a kind of invasion of privacy. To put it differently, each and every one of us is an entire world, a world in which we have the right to do whatever we want without others’ interference. Just as Shuzhi has put forward, it has nothing to do with the employer if we want to scratch the back to make it more comfortable at work, but we will be absolutely stopped to make such an embarrassing little thing when under observation which is likely to decrease efficiency instead. Hence, there is no doubt that it is unnecessary to have monitors to watch us when we are doing some “personal things”.

However, here comes the critical problem: what is the accurate definition of “personal things”? Seen from a social angle, every thing that an individual does is closely related to the whole society, even when we are in a public washroom, what we do will undoubtedly affect some other people. Nevertheless, why we usually don’t have monitors in washrooms? To some extent, it is because the society tends to pay as much attention as possible to value individual privacy and try to solve the problem in a more acceptable way, which means to put up slogans and to use some public-service advertisements and some other ways to improve people’s quality. Although it still may not work for everyone, at least it is effective for most people.

As far as I am concerned, using monitors is not a shortcut for high efficiency, it is the policy we put forward when there is no better way to protect the rights and interests for most people. For companies, I think it will be more reasonable to guarantee the efficiency by giving each employee appropriate task within fixed time instead of tracing the working process. As for the situations where it is hard to keep a balance, such as in the supermarkets, it seems that we have no choice but to use the monitors to achieve relative equality for most people. What’s more, it is significant to inform people when they are under observation, since that the right to know is a basic right for all of us.

To conclude, using monitors is a means to protect more people's rights and interests when there is no better ways to make it.