Director Mitch once again beat me to the punch about a subject that's been weighing on my mind lately, blogging and maintaining gainful employment.
Unless you've been marooned on the distant asteroid where
C2 reigns supreme,
you've read about the dude at Google who was fired for blogging. ("Blogging" is the working theory because companies don't comment on why employees are let go.)
Since nobody asked me to, I'll weigh in on this briefly. I think Mark Jen is naive in thinking there isn't a "blogosphere obsession with Google." (This guy was a product manager? Really??) Despite his bitching a lot, I didn't see anything egregious in the writing. What large company doesn't have "a 3 hour HR presentation about nothing important in particular?"
This came up briefly during lunch yesterday with fellow bloggers Susan and Fran. I do mean briefly, too. For most of the hour, we talked about the various non-work things going on in our non-work lives. Susan's housecleaning in preparation for remodeling and remarked about the changes in her neighborhood, Fran's recently planted flowers and completed a work out milestone. I'm getting ready for cycling (hoping to secure a signup for Ride Across Washington in August) and am dealing with the remaining critter problems.
We all write about stuff that interests us. Although I frequently blog about marketing and customer support, it's rarely work-related. When I have occasionally needed to vent about something going on at work, it's ensconsed in obscure metaphor because the identity of my employers and the proprietary information I wield are not germane to the discussion. Most of the situations happen at every company. Besides, I get much more interesting email with obscure metaphors.
Director Mitch makes some good suggestions on safe blogging. I violate the first one by using my real name. If you were so inclined to type my name into a search engine (Google, MSN, Jeeves and even Mamma), I'm ici bon. I've thought about this enough that plumes of grey smoke wafted from my ears and think it's probably okay. Having a blog under my real name does make me self-conscious about what I write, but overall, there's nothing tremendously embarrassing here. (Knock on plastic keys.) A company that would not be willing to enlist my services solely based on my writings here has serious issues. Much more serious issues.
If you're going to post about work, at least check that what you're doing isn't going to ruffle feathers. For example, a couple of years ago I posted a photo tour of my office. Before I did, I ran this by my cohorts in PR. They thought it was pretty funny. The story and photos are not about my employer, but rather my take on crazy, dismal office space.
As for readership... my wife only occasionally - like once a month - reads my blog. I walked in on her last time she caught up and, well, it was weird standing behind her. There's a psychological desire for acceptance colliding with the honesty in how a work is actually received. Stuff I thought was clever went over like a lead zeppelin. Some innocuous remarks drew huge laughs. Overall, fine, but I need to get used to this if I'm ever going to go big time. (I don't think my parents or brother read my blog, not that I think there would ever be a reason for them to do so. My inlaws sometimes comment. I don't think any of my pre-Y2K coworkers visit.)
I do occasionally receive great notes from people. For example, this letter:
The final question of all this is "why blog?" which I'll address Monday.
Since nobody asked me to, I'll weigh in on this briefly. I think Mark Jen is naive in thinking there isn't a "blogosphere obsession with Google." (This guy was a product manager? Really??) Despite his bitching a lot, I didn't see anything egregious in the writing. What large company doesn't have "a 3 hour HR presentation about nothing important in particular?"
This came up briefly during lunch yesterday with fellow bloggers Susan and Fran. I do mean briefly, too. For most of the hour, we talked about the various non-work things going on in our non-work lives. Susan's housecleaning in preparation for remodeling and remarked about the changes in her neighborhood, Fran's recently planted flowers and completed a work out milestone. I'm getting ready for cycling (hoping to secure a signup for Ride Across Washington in August) and am dealing with the remaining critter problems.
We all write about stuff that interests us. Although I frequently blog about marketing and customer support, it's rarely work-related. When I have occasionally needed to vent about something going on at work, it's ensconsed in obscure metaphor because the identity of my employers and the proprietary information I wield are not germane to the discussion. Most of the situations happen at every company. Besides, I get much more interesting email with obscure metaphors.
Director Mitch makes some good suggestions on safe blogging. I violate the first one by using my real name. If you were so inclined to type my name into a search engine (Google, MSN, Jeeves and even Mamma), I'm ici bon. I've thought about this enough that plumes of grey smoke wafted from my ears and think it's probably okay. Having a blog under my real name does make me self-conscious about what I write, but overall, there's nothing tremendously embarrassing here. (Knock on plastic keys.) A company that would not be willing to enlist my services solely based on my writings here has serious issues. Much more serious issues.
If you're going to post about work, at least check that what you're doing isn't going to ruffle feathers. For example, a couple of years ago I posted a photo tour of my office. Before I did, I ran this by my cohorts in PR. They thought it was pretty funny. The story and photos are not about my employer, but rather my take on crazy, dismal office space.
As for readership... my wife only occasionally - like once a month - reads my blog. I walked in on her last time she caught up and, well, it was weird standing behind her. There's a psychological desire for acceptance colliding with the honesty in how a work is actually received. Stuff I thought was clever went over like a lead zeppelin. Some innocuous remarks drew huge laughs. Overall, fine, but I need to get used to this if I'm ever going to go big time. (I don't think my parents or brother read my blog, not that I think there would ever be a reason for them to do so. My inlaws sometimes comment. I don't think any of my pre-Y2K coworkers visit.)
I do occasionally receive great notes from people. For example, this letter:
[...]I am so stoked that I found you. One day I googled Van Gough and somewhere in my search, your site came up. [...] Anyways, I have very little in common with you enthusiasm for cyling. I do, however, think you are an excellent writer and very much enjoy your odd sense of humor and curiosity. Just wanted to drop you a note telling you that you brighten many of my days. Thanks.totally made my day. It's also very humbling.
The final question of all this is "why blog?" which I'll address Monday.
.