Increasingly I’m hearing of employees of various companies, such as the one who worked for Google (though, not very long) who were fired for blogging. Or were they?

Were they fired for blogging, or for a lack of intelligence?

The Google employee, only having been on the job a few days, almost immediately began posting material critical of his new company. SFGate.com has a good article explaining the issue that employers often have with employee-maintained blogs, namely that you should NEVER talk about work on them, even in the abstract.

Does anyone know what I do for a living? Other than the fact that I’m a Learning Consultant? If you do, then you’ve learned it from an online resume or something, because, I never discuss work on my blog.

My job and my blog have no relationship to one another, and that’s the way it will stay, even if were to ever leave my current company.

Why would I continue to keep my mouth shut about an employer even after I leave that company? Because my new employer might get nervous if they find out I’ve been badmouthing my previous employer.

Most companies don’t yet have policies related to blogging, but many companies have generic policies which could, if needed, cover blogging. Those of us who love blogging need to stay on our best behaviour rather than tempt our employers to shut down this avenue of expression entirely.

There are lots of reasons why blogging can be good for corporate America. I’ll talk more about that later.

Hasta!

David Flanagan
Viewpointjournal.com