Avoid getting fired for blogging
By Kate Lorenz
CareerBuilder.com
Editor's Note: CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com.
It was Merriam-Webster Online's No. 1 word of 2004, and Fortune magazine named it the No. 1 tech trend for 2005.
Two surveys by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in November 2004 found that 8 million people say they have created one and almost one-third of Internet users say they have read one.
But it's still a mystery: Six of 10 Internet users say they don't know what "blog" means.
A blog, according to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, is "a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks provided by the writer."
Bloggers write about their lives to keep friends and family up-to-date, talk about their industry, discuss hobbies or rant about their favorite reality TV show.
But posting pictures of you at work, disclosing confidential information about an employer or bad-mouthing co-workers could get you in hot water for committing inappropriate behavior.
Whether or not it's intentional, divulging dirt about your job can spell trouble at work.
Whatever bloggers are writing about work, employers don't like it. Employees reportedly have been fired for blogging at a number of companies, including Starbucks, Delta Air Lines, Wells Fargo, Friendster and Kmart.
In a January survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, 3 percent of human resource professionals reported disciplining an employee for blogging, and none reported dismissing an employee for such behavior. Nevertheless, ejected bloggers stand by their claims.
What could be grounds for termination? If you are disclosing trade secrets or proprietary or confidential information on your blog or using excessive amounts of time when you should be working, it's possible you will reap the consequences, says Rosemary Haefner, vice president for human resources at CareerBuilder.com.
"Companies need to do their best to not only protect their interests but protect their employees," says Jeremy Wright, fired blogger and founder of InsideBlogging, a blog consulting company.
"Most firings are due to individual bosses taking drastic measures; it is rarely a higher company decision. When a blogger is going to be fired, the HR team needs to be sure it is for the right reason and that reactive measures simply aren't being taken due to fear or personal issues."
Blog with caution
If you're thinking of starting a blog or already have one, here's some advice to make sure your online diary isn't reason for your employer to let you go:
1. Know where your company stands: Ask about the company blogging policy before you start, even if you are doing it anonymously, one dismissed blogger advises. Does your company establish boundaries? Is blogging acceptable? Is it OK to mention your employer? Are there topics that are off-limits? What are the consequences?
2. Blog on your own time: If you are using company hardware, a company network or doing it on company time, you are likely bound by company policy and could be reprimanded or terminated for wrongful use, Haefner says.
3. Practice safe blogs: "Employees who go around sharing negative or confidential information about their company, product or service -- either internal or external -- to the company would and should get fired," says Pete Quintas, CTO of SilkRoad Technology, creator of an enterprise blogging application called Silkblogs. "You need to be honest and not secretive about what you are writing unless you are willing to deal with the consequences."
4. Don't hide it from your boss: Quintas says you should be honest about your blogging and ask your employer if it is OK to do. "I would consider it analogous to asking your employer: 'I have been invited to speak on a panel at this industry conference; can I participate?' "
5. Use good judgment: If you consider blogs and the Internet an extension of your voice, what you say on your blog about your company, product or service should be kept within the guidelines of what you would say in public, according to Quintas. "Treat it with the same restraint of how you talk in person about your company, remembering that more people have access to what you say," he suggests.
6. Others will disagree with you: You can't please all people all of the time. As with any communications medium, the best advice is to be aware of the repercussions your decisions may have, Wright warns. "Anytime you post, you are effectively making a choice between being safe and having something worthwhile to say," he says. "It's a rare occasion where you can both please everyone and come up with a new and engaging line of thought. Sometimes things you say will offend people, no matter where you're saying them."
Kate Lorenz is the article and advice editor for CareerBuilder.com. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.
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