Sunday, September 04, 2005

To blog or not to blog

Jeremy Blachman makes the case for To Blog, in the NY Times no less.

Richard Dalton Jr makes the for Not To Blog in the HireDiversity.com Newsletter. Well, OK, let's be fair, he's not saying not to blog, he's just quoting the EFF's guidelines for "safer blogging." (Which basically take all the fun out of it if you ask me.)

I come down, as I always have, on the side of smart blogging, with a dash of "we need some protections" thrown in.

It's stupid to talk smack about your boss or your co-workers in a non-anonymous blog.
It's stupid (and illegal) to talk about inside information, whether IP or financially related.
It's stupid to say anything in your blog that you would get in trouble for if you told your girlfriend in the ladies room.
It's stupid to say anything in your blog that you would get in trouble for if you told a reporter.
It's stupid to take racy pictures of yourself in uniform or in your office at all and post them to your blog.

No one should be protected from the consequences of their own stupid actions.

BUT: bloggers should be protected from being fired simply because they have a blog. If the content does not cross any of the lines that would cause dismissal if communicated by another medium, then there should be consequences for the company that wrongfully terminates.

What am I missing that makes this so complicated?

Comments:
Elisa,

Should it be illegal for an interviewer to ask if a job applicant is a blogger?

Should blogging enjoy the same anti-discrimination status which a religion enjoys?

( Just kidding around. )
 
No.

and

no.

:)
 
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