Websites You Could Not Live Without

Every once in a while, I like to take a poll around the office to try and learn just a bit more about my co-workers. And, this week’s poll was “What are the top three websites you could not WORK without or LIVE without?”

So, what would you answer?

In the “We cannot WORK without these websites” category, the Parthenon answers were not too surprising.

1. Love it or hate it, no one wants to go back to the days before Google. Almost everyone cited Google as a workplace “must have.” Interestingly enough, no one cited Yahoo or Bing…
2. For those on the digital media team, Basecamp was a popular mandatory workplace website. Basecamp is a project management/work organization tool that helps teams – including outside clients and vendors – collaborate on projects.
3. ThinkStock and iStock were also popular. Both sites offer low-cost, non-rights managed stock photography that can be used on both print and digital projects.
4. With so many writers and editors on staff, reference sites like dictionary.com, thesaraus.com, thefreedictionary.com and mayoclinic.com were also popular.

Which websites made the Parthenon Top Five List for sites we could not LIVE without?

1. Google hit again. Apparently even in our off-work hours, we are still spending time online … searching…
2. Online banking was a close second. So many of us have adopted online banking services that it seems hard to believe that there was ever a time where we wrote checks and searched for stamps to place on bills we had to actually mail.
3. Apparently we also like to surf geeky, informative and funny stuff in our off-hours: Wikipedia, Wired, iVillage, theOnion, HuffingtonPost, poynter.org, nytimes.com, CNN and Fast Company all were listed as top “must have” life resources.
4. The team does live and work in Nashville, so it makes sense that music websites are big at Parthenon: YouTube, AllMusic and Pandora all made the list.
5. Finally, when we are not working, a few of us are shopping on Craigslist.

One fact that I found particularly interesting: Facebook did not make either top five list…

So, what sites would make your “Must Have to WORK or LIVE” list?