Out of Office: Job Loss in the Age of Blogs and Twitter - WSJ.com

Out of Office: Job Loss in the Age of Blogs and Twitter

By NICK WINGFIELD and PUI-WING TAM

It's been decades since Americans had this much time on their hands and -- thanks to the Web -- never have there been so many opportunities to burn it.

In November, Julia Otto was headed to her first day on a new job, car keys in hand, as an administrative assistant with a New Orleans construction company when her phone rang. Her position was eliminated before she even started.

Now, when she's not sending out resumes or doing household chores, the 43-year-old spends several hours a day playing games. Her favorite is an adventure-puzzle game called "Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst," where she hunts for clues inside a spooky mansion to unlock a mystery. She spends about $7 a month playing games on the Big Fish Games site.

"They're an affordable way to help forget," says Ms. Otto. "It's not soap operas and chocolate."

As Americans -- grappling with layoffs and grim economic news -- try to find ways to fill their time, the Internet is helping people with job searches. But the medium is performing another important role: a social anesthesia that distracts people from the stress of unemployment.

Everett Collection

During the Great Depression, many unemployed workers spent entire afternoons watching films at movie houses like this in Eugene, Ore.

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