The

popularity of blogging is growing rapidly, but most companies and

employees are grappling with what’s acceptable and what isn’t.





I am a blogger, or as our firm’s marketing department would prefer, a “personal publisher.” I just love to write, and what I write, I just love to publish online. Hence, once I got onboard dotPH, one of the first things I asked my new boss, Mr. Joel Disini,

was whether he had a policy on blogging, especially given various

issues the firm had been and is currently facing. His sentiments were

echoed quite closely by a quote by the above-cited article:

The only guideline is to use common sense and not say something that’s stupid or is detrimental to the company

… [Firms could] give employees the freedom to post what they want,

but hold them accountable for it. If they post something that does

damage to the company or [its] cause, there will be consequences. That

could include a reprimand, disciplinary action or, in a worst-case

scenario, termination.




Well said!


I posted before

that it would be nice if firms were to have an explicit policy covering

online publishing, given the rise of blogging as a powerful medium of

communication. However, thinking back, I would propose that in the

absence of such explicit guidelines, Joel’s advice would best to follow. Common sense

is indeed the first line of defense against doing something you’d

regret later on. Perhaps, in this case, referring to existing company

policies would come next. After all, I would reckon that most

employer-employee agreements would have implicit provisions that the

latter is not supposed to do something stupid like disclosing sensitive

or confidential information, or publishing material that may cause

damage to the firm’s reputation.


At any rate, I think firms should welcome blogs and blogging as powerful tools that could serve as: key sources of industry information; a good marketing tool; and, a great way to connect to a customer base or professionals within an industry. After all,

Companies must understand that [blogging] isn’t just a

random hobby that a few people are engaging in. It’s becoming a

mainstream and widespread form of communication … Employers must

recognize that unless they accommodate blogging, they risk losing good

people.




I am posting a copy of the article below. The article is available to workforce.com

members (subscription is free), but my readers may not necessarily have

the time to register. The article is copyright © 1995-2005 Crain

Communications Inc., and the author, Samuel Greengard.




mBloggers Find The Ax is Mightier Than The Pen



Some companies see the benefits of blogging, but many remain wary of


employees leveling criticism or sharing company information. And some


have fired the online diarists.


By Samuel Greengard











nly





a year ago, Ellen Simonetti was flying high. The flight attendant for Delta Air





Lines was traveling the world and chronicling her life and adventures in a blog,





Diary of a Flight Attendant. A couple of times each week, the self-styled





“Queen of the Sky,” an eight-year employee of the airline, discussed where she





had been, what she had done and whom she had met.


Then, on September 25, Simonetti returned home to find the





stern-sounding message on her answering machine from an in-flight supervisor.





She was to call about her scheduled flight to Rome the following day. Then





dropped the bombshell: “You won’t be able to fly your trip tomorrow. … It’s





about some pictures on the Web.”


Ten days later, Delta informed Simonetti that she had been





suspended for posting “inappropriate” pictures—namely, images of her and other





Delta employees in uniform.


Simonetti, who had never faced disciplinary action before,





promptly removed the photographs from the blog. But when she trolled elsewhere





on the Web, she found other blogs with photos of Delta employees. She then





scoured her company policy manual and found no rule prohibiting her from posting





pictures of herself in uniform on the Web.


Things got worse from there. After meeting with Delta





management, Simonetti filed a sex discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal





Employment Opportunity Commission.


Delta fired her on Oct. 29. “I was never given a warning.





I feel as though I’ve been singled out and that Delta is trying to make an





example out of me,” says Simonetti, a 30-year-old resident of Austin, Texas.


These days, the Queen of the Sky isn’t the only person who





has discovered that work-related blogging can put you out of a job.


In January, Mark Jen, a Google employee of less than a





month’s tenure, ran afoul of his employer for his too-candid blog. In it, Jen





wrote about a number of company matters, including a detailed comp and benefits





breakdown. In mid-January, his blog came down for a short time and then





reappeared, without the offending material. Jen apologized for his missteps: “I





goofed and put some stuff up on my blog that’s not supposed to be there. …





Just so you know, Google was pretty cool about all this.”


As it turns out, Google wasn’t quite that cool. Jen





reported on his blog that he was fired on Jan. 28. “Either directly or





indirectly, my blog was the reason,” he says. “People ask me if I’m bitter.





Funny thing is, despite all this, at the end of the day, I can see where Google





is coming from—but I don’t agree with their stances and I wish they had executed





a little differently.”


Michael Hanscom snapped pictures of Apple PowerMac G5





computers sitting on a loading dock at Microsoft. He posted the pictures to his





blog and promptly found himself fired from his temp job with Xerox, which had





been contracted by Microsoft to handle work on its Redmond, Washington, campus.





Joyce Park, a former software engineer for Mountain View, California-based





Friendster, claims she was terminated for posting publicly available information





about the company. And the list goes on.


Technorati, a San Francisco firm that tracks blogging,





reports that more than 5,000 “corporate bloggers” are typing away today. These





are individuals who post on behalf of a company. Countless others, like





Simonetti, have taken up the task as a hobby. “We are still at the relative





start of accepted use of blogging as a part of corporate policy,” Technorati





founder and CEO David Sifry notes.


“The popularity of blogging is growing rapidly, but most





companies and employees are grappling with what’s acceptable and what isn’t,”





says Michael Rudnick, national intranet and portal practice leader for Watson





Wyatt. Adds Eugene Volokh, a professor of law at UCLA: “Legal challenges arising





out of terminations related to blogging are a vague and under-litigated area of





law.”


It’s an issue that raises plenty of questions. Do





employees have the right to post online commentaries about their employers and





jobs? Is it wise for employers to restrict these sites? And what happens when





employees step over the line and post something that’s embarrassing or





detrimental to co-workers or the company?


There are no simple answers. But as more and more





companies are discovering, blogging has taken on a life of its own. And while





some companies such as Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and Red Hat Software support





employee blogging—and some are even equipping employees with blogging





software—others aren’t so sure that free-form Web blabbing about the company is





a good idea.


The word’s out




In the most basic terms, a blog offers a way for a person





to communicate with others via the Web. A blogger posts comments—a sort of diary





or ongoing letter to readers—on whatever topic he or she chooses. Simonetti, for





instance, began blogging after her mother died of cancer in September 2003. She





found the experience cathartic and fun. Only about 200 to 300 people per day





were reading her blog before the run-in with Delta, she says.


With a software program such as Weblogger, Blogger or





Movable Type, it’s possible to create a blog and post entries in a matter of





minutes.


Some blogs have evolved into key sources of industry





information and influence mainstream media as well as companies large and small.





A blog by Sun Microsystems president Jonathan Schwartz is widely read within the





tech industry. General Motors vice chairman Robert A. Lutz’s FastLane Blog





provides news and information about the automaker’s products.


A blog can serve as a marketing tool. Over the past few





years, PR and advertising firms have turned to blogs to create buzz about new





products. Companies such as Sun, Red Hat and Microsoft have found that blogs are





a great way to connect to a customer base or professionals within an industry.


“Blogs create a more personal interaction,” says J.D. Iles,





owner of the Lincoln Sign Co. in Lincoln, New Hampshire. His blog, Signs





Never Sleep, focusing on a mix of business and personal issues, has been





viewed by more than 14,000 visitors since September.


Red Hat, a software development company in Raleigh, North





Carolina, is typical of a new generation of companies that support blogging. The





company rolled out an officially sanctioned blog early last year, and more than





two dozen executives, developers and engineers contribute to it.


“It is a platform for any employee that has the urge to





speak about something that he or she has a passion for,” says Greg DeKoenigsberg,





community relations manager for Red Hat.


At Microsoft, more than 1,200 bloggers offer perspectives





on everything from product development to programming strategies—though the





company isn’t particularly eager to provide bloggers who can discuss the topic.


“We get important, real-time feedback on our products, and





customers get greater insight into what is going on with key technologies inside





the company,” says Pete McKiernan, lead product manager for Microsoft’s Platform





Strategy Group. “Blogging is a natural extension of what is in our corporate





DNA.”


Both Microsoft and Red Hat allow any employee interested





in blogging to do so. Still, at least in Microsoft’s case, a lack of





judgment—posting a photo from an area that is supposed to be off-limits to the





public—can clearly have repercussions.


“The only guideline is to use common sense and not say





something that’s stupid or is detrimental to the company,” Red Hat’s





DeKoenigsberg says. “We give employees the freedom to post what they want, but





we hold them accountable for it. If they post something that does damage to the





company or our cause, there will be consequences.” That could include a





reprimand, disciplinary action or, in a worst-case scenario, termination.


Online and out of line


Like Google, not all companies get a smooth ride in blogs. In


November, a “disgruntled spouse” posted a lengthy message on an independent blog,





LiveJournal, about how the author’s “significant other” was forced to





work 85-hour weeks at Electronic Arts, a leading video and computer game





developer.


The posting set off a flurry of activity, including





several thousand posts at LiveJournal and articles in the New York





Times and Los Angeles Times and at News.com about industry





conditions. It also led to a class-action lawsuit in November that accused





Electronic Arts of not paying overtime wages.


Simonetti, meanwhile, is moving forward with her lawsuit





against Delta. Traffic at her blog varies, from a trickle of readers each day to





nearly 6,000.


“It seems like a situation that could have easily been





avoided. If they had simply asked me to take the pictures down, I would have





done it immediately,” she says.


UCLA’s Volokh says that employers in most states can fire





an employee for pretty much any reason short of one’s sex or religion and have





no obligation to allow free speech. But a termination in a blog transgression





can be a case of winning the battle but losing the war.


“Companies must understand that this isn’t just a random





hobby that a few people are engaging in. It’s becoming a mainstream and





widespread form of communication,” Volokh says. “Employers must recognize that





unless they accommodate blogging, they risk losing good people.”


Developing a cohesive set of guidelines or clear policy is





essential, Watson Wyatt’s Rudnick says. When all parties know the rules, it’s





possible to give workers the freedom to post and avoid many mishaps and





misunderstandings.


In many cases, it’s possible to expand on general policies





and guidelines to cover blogs, he says. Simply addressing blogging and





referencing it in the corporate policy manual is likely to suffice, he notes.





“The best bet is to use blogs and respond to postings with





the truth,” Rudnick says. “There’s no way to put the genie back in the bottle.





The power of blogging has been clearly established.”


Workforce Management, March 2005, pp. 74-75 —Subscribe Now!



Samuel Greengard is a contributing editor for Workforce. E-mail sam@greengard.com to comment.


Next Article: 2. A Sample of Business Blogs


A list of blogs as well as a sample employee blogging policy.


Smart parenting starts with EZ Kids.

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