A mouse jiggler is a software used to simulate the movement of a

computer mouse A computer mouse (plural mice, sometimes mouses) is a hand-held pointing device that detects two-dimensional motion relative to a surface. This motion is typically translated into the motion of a pointer on a display, which allows a smooth c ...

. It can also be a mechanical device moving the physical computer mouse. In all cases, it prevents sleep mode, standby mode or the

screensaver A screensaver (or screen saver) is a computer program that blanks the display screen or fills it with moving images or patterns when the computer has been idle for a designated time. The original purpose of screensavers was to prevent phosphor ...

from activating. Mouse jigglers are also known as mouse movers.

Implementations

Mechanical mouse jigglers are small devices onto which a user places their computer mouse. They work by using a full rotating platform or rotating disc underneath the mouse. The movement is subtle but enough to move the user's cursor on their screen. Software driven mouse movers install a program on the user's machine that also moves the mouse cursor across the screen.

Online monitoring of remote workers

The demand for mouse jigglers is being driven by employers or line managers indirectly monitoring their employees who are

remote work Remote work, also called work from home (WFH), work from anywhere, telework, remote job, mobile work, and distance work is an employment arrangement in which employees do not commute to a central place of work, such as an office building, ware ...

ers. Communication applications such as

Microsoft Outlook Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager software system from Microsoft, available as a part of the Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 software suites. Though primarily an email client, Outlook also includes such functions as Calen ...

, Teams,

Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...

, as well as Slack show the working status for everyone within a group. The online status displays work in a traffic light system to show others within the team if someone is available, away, offline, or busy. If these applications are used through a desktop computer (instead of a mobile device), and the user doesn't interact with their mouse for a said period of time, the status will display as inactive. In terms of the traffic light system, the available status will change to inactive. This is the mechanism that provides indirect monitoring of employees. Should someone appear to be inactive or away for a lengthy period of time, it could indicate that the individual is not working. This online monitoring of remote employees is causing a trust issue and employees are searching for ways to overcome the monitoring. Mouse jigglers enable users to keep their screen active while undertaking other tasks. This keeps the status set to available instead of showing a user to be inactive or away.

References

{{Reflist Computing input devices Business software