Have blog, lose job?

[jswordy]

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Mark Jen landed a dream job with Google Inc. in January. He was fired less than a month later.

His infraction? He ran a Web log, where he freely gabbed about his impressions of life at the Mountain View, Calif.-based Internet search giant.

Web logs, or blogs, the online personal diaries where big names and no names expound on everything from pets to presidents, are going mainstream. While still a relatively small piece of total online activity, blogging has caught on with affluent young adults. As Forrester Research analysts recently noted, blogging will become increasingly common as these consumers age.

For companies, the growing popularity of blogs is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, corporate managers recognize the power of word-of-mouth as a sales tool. On the other hand, they're acutely aware of the dangers inherent in the rapid and widespread dissemination of company information.

"Blogs are enabling people to have a conversation with a much wider audience," said Kurt Opsahl, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group that monitors Internet use and privacy rights. "They're saying the same things that people would routinely say around the water cooler, only now they're saying them in a forum that can be read by millions of people."

http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/14/news/economy/blogging/index.htm

[Anakin Skywalker]

1. Fire his @$$!

Don't ask me why. I just felt like saying that. Tee hee. :)

[alarimer]

2. It might be smarter to use an alias

And an alias for the company too if you must talk about it. Articles like this really bother me. People talk trash about their jobs and bosses all the time. I know I do- to anyone who will listen!!

[corbett]

3. Most Of My Coworkers Are Brainwashed Bushies

Most of my coworkers are good people overall but untouchable, brainwashed bushies. No matter the topic, I get the "Out of the mainstream" response. I blog plenty but I never talk about my day job. I'm sorry that man lost his job but Google was within their rights.

[Melynn]

4. It's just common sense

that if you write about your company on the Internet, you could lose your job. I never have wrote about the company that I work for or my co-workers.

On the other hand, I work for a fairly boring company. I don't think that anyone would be too interested in the internal workings of the company that I work for.

That guy who lost his job at Goggle really screwed up. Goggle is really good company to work for and a big donor to liberal causes. :dunce:

[Spinzonner]

5. Uh oh, you just dissed your company by calling it boring

You hsve destroyed their PR effort to try and make it seem interesting.

The Blog Police are even now tracking down your real identity ...

[seriousstan]

6. Ibelieve the common sense part is not naming yourself or your company.

I know you were only kidding, but I had to respond to someone. :) Now my name is Ken Blackwell and let me tell you a few things about the state of OHIO and our Governor.......

[GiovanniC]

16. My Name Is Don Rumsfeld

And I have some things to say about one George W. Bush.

[NVMojo]

12. I agree that he should have kept his blogging life separate from

his work life. Besides, when I leave work, I don't want to think about it.

[w4rma]

7. The blog.

http://99zeros.blogspot.com/2005/02/official-story-straight-from-source.html

[bleedingheart]

8. I personally find it pretty stupid for people to bad mouth a company

in print...especially if they depend upon the job for food money...

sorry there is an old adage...."don't bite the hand that feeds you"...

now you can bitch all you want to your friends at the bar...or at home...but putting your company name on your personal blog is really stupid...

[zara]

9. likely violated his confidentiality agreement....

that all silicon valley companies have their employees sign upon hiring.
pretty stupid to think the company wouldn't mind if it found out.

[Renew Deal]

10. He did.

That's my understanding of it.

[cloud75]

11. i work for a fortune 500 company and have been told...

to stay off blogs especically those related to my field of work...pharmaceuticals...that's right i make my money from satan.

[liberalhistorian]

13. Can they legally do that?

Was that specifically in your contract? If it wasn't, it seems to me that they have no right to tell you which blogs to go on. If it was, though, then you probably don't have much recourse.

[hollowdweller]

14. Of course they can. This is Amerika where the unions are busted and

the proctoscopes are at the ready.

[cloud75]

15. no but they can do other things....

like make your life hell so you quit..this is the way the coorporate world works...it's hard to get caught unless you go online during work.