There are many kinds of web workers: neo-Bedouins, telecommuters, freelancers, startup entrepreneurs, and yes, even corporate employees working in a cubicle or an office. We don’t define web workers by their employment status or their place of work, but rather by how they use the Web in new ways to produce, to connect, and to succeed better than they could without the Web.
How do you know if you’re a web worker? Here are some signs that you might be.
1. You care more about Firefox vs. IE vs. Safari vs. Opera than Mac vs. Windows vs. Linux.
2. You always Google people before an initial meeting, phone call, or email. And you assume that people meeting with you already know your background, expertise, and the name of your cat.
3. You could bump into a colleague at the grocery store and not recognize her, because you’ve never met her face to face.
4. You have a standard user ID that you try to get with every new web app and website that’s launched, even if you don’t think you’ll ever use that service. People you work with online recognize you by that handle.
5. You not only know what RSS is, you have a personal RSS feed of all your online doings. Bonus points: you use it for workstreaming. (Want to do it? Try SuprGlu or Jaiku.)
6. You have multiple email addresses and know how to consolidate or compartmentalize them with POP3, IMAP, and various desktop, web, and mobile mail clients. You know that Outlook and Gmail represent different paradigms and know which one suits your digital organizational style.
7. Your business cards list a website address and at least three IM user IDs. Bonus points: you ordered Flickr cards from Moo.
8. You are searching for the one true IM client that will allow you to interact with all your IM buddies in one place, no matter what network they’re on.
9. You’ve gotten a job without a resume or an interview and without even meeting your future boss face to face, on the strength of your online reputation.
10. You’ve quit a job by email. Bonus points: you’ve quit a job by text message a la Britney’s dumping of Kevin.
11. If you leave your job today, you could announce your availability online and have new opportunities tomorrow.
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