When the blogger blogs, can the employer intervene? That is the question the New York Times asks in an interesting article today. Reporter Tom Zeller’s premise is this: "As the practice of blogging has spread, employees are
coming to the realization that corporations, which spend millions of
dollars protecting their brands, are under no particular obligation to
tolerate threats, real or perceived, from the activities of people who
become identified with those brands, even if it is on their personal
Web sites."
No legal protections exist for bloggers, outside of those afforded other activities employees undertake on their own time. It’s an interesting question. Read this article to learn more. Writes Zeller: "’Lifestyle law’ trends of the late 1980’s and early 90’s – sometimes
driven by tobacco and alcohol lobbies – created state laws that
protected employees from being fired for engaging in legal, off-duty
activities, though no one is likely to be fired simply for blogging,
but rather for violating some policy or practice in a blog."
Some say that bloggers should do so annonymously, especially if they are going to blog about their company. Others say no, but if they are going to publicly speak about the company they work for, writes Zeller, there are some things to keep in mind: "don’t post material that is obscene, defamatory, profane or libelous,
and make sure that you indicate that the opinions expressed are your
own."
You can’t bring your hobbies to work, so why would the opposite be true? Right? I don’t believe in writing about work issues on my blog. I think the two should be separate. I think that may be part of the reason why I gave my blog a theme–to give it some direction and backbone apart from my workaday life. And I don’t like the gossipy insider type blogs anyway. I think of myself as a reporter, and I use this blog to simply throw out ideas that occur to me from my reading or web browsing.
Yet, I do include some of my favorite clips from my "work life" here on my site. But, I think of them more as clips that many writers use to show others what they do. They are samples of my work that I am proud of, nothing more. Any thoughts?
