The Dark Side of Blogging
Paul Chin
(www.paulchinonline.com)
1/2/2007
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My boss is a total oddball. He has a tendency to howl at the moon, talks to a toy monkey while working, and has an irrational fear of clowns. I can say these things about my boss because … I work for myself.
But if you're an employee of an organization, think twice about writing these kinds of things about your employer on a company blog -- or even on a personal blog.
Corporate blogging is not a right,
it's a responsibility. As fun as blogging may be to wannabe writers, breaking blog etiquette in a corporate environment -- whether implicitly or explicitly -- can be cause for dismissal or legal action.
The Consequences of Blogging
Blogging is an effective way of providing personality to companies that are increasingly seen as faceless corporate entities. Blogs, unlike most other forms of corporate communications, take on the voice of the blogger and is less likely to contain overly polished business speak churned out by a communications department. But blogging is susceptible to those innocent (and sometimes not so innocent) slips of the tongue because many bloggers approach it far too casually.
The case of Mark Jen -- a former Google employee who was fired for blogging about internal company information -- is a perfect example of the consequences of careless blogging. And this isn't an isolated case either. The rise in popularity of blogging has brought about numerous cases of corporate employees and politicians who have been dismissed for what their employers viewed as improper blog content.
Ellen Simonetti, also known as "Queen of Sky," was fired from her job as a flight attendant of Delta Air Lines (a position she held for 8 years) for posting what the company deemed inappropriate pictures of herself in uniform on her blog. And, in my neck of the woods, Canadian Conservative Member of Parliament, Garth Turner, was recently dismissed by his party for being critical of his government's policies on his blog. Turner later renounced his party membership and now sits as an independent in the House of Commons.
Whether or not what the bloggers and employers did in these cases was the right thing is up for debate; but corporate bloggers and their employers must be conscious of the dangers of a loose tongue and other inappropriate behaviors:
Divulging confidential information -- This is potentially the most harmful form of careless and irresponsible blogging. Disclosing corporate trade secrets, intellectual property, business strategies, in-house financial information, security infrastructure information, can cost a company millions of dollars and possibly its future operation. Even when there's no malicious intent, careless bloggers could simply get caught up in what they're writing and accidentally divulge something that's not meant for the public domain.
Defamation -- We all need to vent once in a while; but airing out your dirty laundry on a blog isn't isn't the smartest thing to do -- for the blogger or the employer. Making defamatory statements about an employer (not smart) or a company's competitors (really not smart) can be cause for dismissal and/or legal action. Not only could the blogger be fired for inappropriate content, but if an external third party is involved (such as blogging about a competitor), the company itself could be held liable for defamatory statements made by its employees -- even if it has little-to-no involvement in their blogs.
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