Your Workplace: Bloggers – Boon or Bane?

Is your boss playing favorites? Your pay, paltry compared to industry standards? Is your company’s product less than stellar? If so, you might be tempted to start your own personal blog (or web log), a virtual diary to vent your workplace woes for millions of other bloggers to see. But if that sounds appealing, think again.

Increasingly, employers are firing employees they feel have gone too far in violating their company’s reputation or image. And anonymity doesn’t provide foolproof protection. Even using pseudonyms for yourself and your company as well as a home computer and blogging after hours does not ensure safety. Mentioning your blog to a coworker can get you outed. Or, sometimes your writings can provide just enough information to pinpoint you.

"While there are certainly steps you can take, remaining anonymous is still challenging," said Kurt Opsahl, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit civil liberties organization that provides legal and other information for bloggers (http://www.eff.org/bloggers/lg/). "People should expect that if their blog is on the Internet then anyone and everyone can read it – including their boss."

While dishing the dirt about your company in the blogosphere may not feel all that different from getting things off your chest at the dinner table or water cooler, to an employer it generally is. Blogs provide a soap box on which people can stand and speak to an audience of millions.

"Some companies feel nervous about comments made in public and how it may affect the public’s perception of them," Opsahl said. When they do, according to recent news accounts, some companies take action as in these recent cases of bloggers who’ve been shown the door.

• A bookseller employee was fired from Waterstone’s in Edinburgh for blogging about his employer, occasionally mentioning his "sandal-wearing" manager who he called "Evil Boss."
• A Microsoft temp was fired for posting a picture on his blog of Apple Macintosh G5s sitting at the Microsoft loading dock.
• A stewardess was fired by Delta Airlines after posting pictures of herself posing in an empty plane in a Flight Attendant uniform.

Part of the problem stems from the relative naivete of some bloggers who feel that what they write in the virtual world can’t come back to bite them in the real world. Yet, posting information or opinions on the Internet is not much different from printing them in a newspaper where various publishing rules governing defamation, trade and copyright secrets apply.

Many American workers also fail to realize that private employers are free to fire at will in most states, as long as it’s not discriminatory or in retaliation for whistle-blowing or union organizing, labor experts say. The First Amendment only restricts government control of speech.

"Welcome to corporate America," said Cliff Palefsky, a San Francisco employment lawyer. "People don’t understand how little protection they really have. If you’re an at will employee, you can be fired for almost any reason at all. Some states or municipalities may have protections for off-the-job legal conduct, but they’re the exception."

Yet despite the chill factor these firings may exert on some bloggers, experts predict that blogs will have an increasing impact on the market and that they will grow in importance as their readers and writers become more influential. Recent statistics bear them out. As many as 16 percent of U.S. adults – some 32 million people – read blogs, according to a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and Manhattan-based researcher BuzzMetrics. Blog readers include 20 percent of the national newspaper audience and 40 percent of the talk-radio audience

In response, experts predict that more companies will eventually find a way to balance out the pluses and minuses of corporate blogging. But it’s going to take more cooperation from both sides and greater respect for each other’s interests.

If you as an employee, for example, wants to start a blog, you should first understand the culture of your company and whether it generally respects individuals’ rights to off-the-job legal activity. Respecting existing confidentiality agreements and company secrets is a no-brainer. Using common sense about the possible impact of what you are about to write is also a good rule of thumb. When unsure, check with a manager.

Companies, meanwhile, should guard against over-reacting to a negative blog.

"Companies that discover an offensive blog from an employee should take a step back and relax," Opsahl advised. "Consider whether this is really worth panicking over. Blogs are a great opportunity for companies to talk to customers. Sure, there might be some criticism. But that’s part of the dialogue. If you’re willing to allow for some of that, it shows you’re open and honest."

Perhaps the best idea is for companies to create a written policy for employees that sets out clear guidelines for corporate blogging. Establish rules that are inviolable such as respecting company secret. Also, set expectations about when a company will intervene.

"If, as a company, you’re concerned about what people may say in a blog, let them know in advance," Palefsky said. "Tell them you’re concerned about the image and reputation of the company, that you have PR people designated to monitor what’s said about the company both on and off the job, and that you expect loyalty. Give them fair notice."

Sources:

Kurt Opsahl, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit civil liberties organization working to protect digital rights.

Cliff Palefsky, a San Francisco employment lawyer