racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

I should have posted on this earlier, but personal circumstances got in the way.  Big Blue has just published its employee blogging guidelines and policies.  According to a post by IBM’s James Snell, employees themselves collaborated (on a Wiki) to draft and refine the guidelines.

Points to consider:

• Be who you are.  Speak in the first person.


• Know your fellow bloggers.
  


• Employee blogs are not IBM’s official mouthpieces, but informal knowledge sources and points of exchange.


• Add value.
  


• Respect copyrights and fair use.


• Respect the audience.
  


• Keep secrets.


• Don’t pick fights (ok, if you choose to, do so with respect, and by presenting the facts).


• Use your best judgement.
  


• Don’t forget your day job!


• Keep faithful to the Business Conduct Guidelines.
  

Fair enough.  A pretty cool concept, methinks.  I

wouldn’t be surprised if other companies follow suit and perhaps model

their own blogging policies and guidelines after IBM’s.

The guidelines do stipulate that what a blogger publishes is his/her

sole

responsibility.  I think this is an important point to

highlight.  Official communications should be the responsibility

of a firm’s corporate communications director.  Corporate blogging

is also best when done by, and identified with, individuals, hence a

more personal feel.  After all, professional bloggers provide a

human face to a company.  That’s the magic of it all.

(Via tales from Disiniland)

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