There are many examples of people who’ve been sacked for their blogging activity - Joe Gordon sacked in the UK by Waterstones book shop, Troutgirl sacked by Friendster, and sacked Delta Airlines employee Ellen Simonetti.
They all fell foul of their employers in the early days of the evolving blogsphere - there were few guidelines in place. It’s something that’s still being worked on here at the BBC, as a policy for blogging is still being drawn-up.
Some companies seem to regard corporate blogging a powerful communication tool; others a threat with much greater risks than potential benefits. So having a sensible set of guidelines seems like a sound way to avoid problems.
Corporate Blogging has pulled together a selection of guidelines from employers, and drawn-up a comparison of blogging rules - and there is a bit of pattern-spotting among the rules:
The Core; all companies
• You’re personally responsible
• Abide by existing rules
• Keep secrets
• Be nice
The Common; approximately half of them
• Add value
• Respect copyright
• Follow the law
• Cite and link
• Discuss with your manager
The Unusual; only one or two companies mention
• You can write on company time
• Our goal
• You may disagree with the boss
• Stop blogging if we say so
• Contact PR
At Sun they recognise the risk that bloggnig can pose and have a Policy on Public Discourse which is similar but gives more guidance:
• It's a Two-Way Street
• Don't Tell Secrets
• Be Interesting
• Write What You Know
• Financial Rules
• Quality Matters
• Think About Consequences
More examples can be found at these sites:
• Feedster Corporate Blogging Policy
• Thomas Nelson Blogging Guidelines
• Plaxo Public Internet Communication Policy
• Hill & Knowlton Blogging policies and guidelines
• Yahoo Employee Blog Guidelines (pdf)
Finally there’s a nice note from a blogger at Yahoo – as a few words of advice to colleagues considering blogging.
Also some legal guidance doesn't go amiss - the Electronic Freedom Foundation published this useful Legal Guide for Bloggers although with a US focus. But the BBC has a very useful online guide entitled How to Avoid Libel and Defamation.
So logs of thougt, some agreement in some areas, and lots of variations.
Matt
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