Be careful what you blog

The word blog was far from a household topic of discussion until a recent incident regarding the Vincentian police officer who lost his position because of his blog.

It used to be that we needed to be careful what we said in letters, on the phone, or, more recently, in e-mails, but these days, with the popularity of the Internet, you really need to be careful what you write on your blogs as well – {{more}}especially if you use them to rate your job, criticize your bosses, ridicule your co-workers, or express your social and political views. (I’m giving you credit for knowing better than to blog about the salacious details of your personal life – you do know not to do that, don’t you?)

For those of you who aren’t sure what a blog is, let’s get you up to speed. A blog is a Web site that is used as an online “diary.” Anyone can start a blog, and you can make “entries” that consist of comments, thoughts, opinions, and ideas. Entries that you make in your blog are often available for indexing on the Internet and for viewing by the general public. On some blogs, your reading public can react to your entries and correspond with you by posting their own comments, thoughts, and opinions as well as feedback on what you wrote. In essence, blogging has become a sort of online gossip grapevine, but instead of having two or three people who listen in, you have millions of people, not just locally but globally, as a captive audience.

So, what’s the big deal as far as the workplace is concerned?

Some bloggers forget that their employers occasionally browse the Internet to see what is being said about their company. While they’re at it, they may search out what their employees are doing, as well. It’s actually more likely that they will stumble upon something that’s been said accidentally.

But, either way, I’m sure you can see a potential for problems . . .

Job seekers who are looking to land their dream position might want to think twice when blogging and expressing their opinions on certain personal matters such as how they spend their social time. They should also think three or four times before blogging about what they think of their last company or previous supervisor. Such blogging entries can raise red flags for some companies, particularly if the company thinks you might be a PR risk for their image.

Nevertheless, blogging is not all bad. It can be a great way to look for a job and to network for similarly minded people, both professionally and personally. And, even though many companies dislike the negative publicity they may receive from griping employees and dissatisfied customers, they revel in the quick and free word-of-mouth advertising that blogging efforts can provide.

So, don’t fight the technology of blogging. Just fight the trend of blog gossip. You only need to learn how to straddle the fence between expressing your personal opinions and living with the possibility that a publicly outspoken nature online can lead to negative repercussions-even the loss of your job.

To learn more about blogs or to start your own, visit www.blogger.com

Karen Hinds President/CEO –
Workplace Success Group, Toll Free: 1-877-902-2775;
Tel: 1-203-757-4103
Karen@WorkplaceSuccess.com
www.WorkplaceSuccess.com
Creator of The Workplace Success Program (TM)