Blogging and job security

As with most bloggers, I am always fascinated to read of the faux pas that bloggers can make whilst blogging.  The rampant media attention paid to this issue – often ending up in the loss of said blogger’s job – is perhaps one of the biggest reasons (sensible) people are reticent about blogging. 

On the one hand, having a good complain at the family BBQ on a Sunday about your job is a good Australian tradition, but it isn’t done in a forum where it’s likely to get back to your boss.  The recent episode of la Petite Anglaise – who seems to have lost her job as a direct result of blogging, even though on the basis of her side of the story all seems a little unfair (although blogging about a sickie is NOT perhaps the most sensible job retentions strategy one could choose) – reminds us all that, in cyberspace, everyone hears you scream, for years and years and years, if you’re not careful.  

The article is written up online at Australian IT.

It does show though that the dynamic world of the workplace is still desperately catching up with the online world of technology.  I know that there are some graduates that we have interviewed recently who go home and blog about their interviews, how it went, and which firm (not necessarily ours!) they would prefer to be offered a job by.  I think that the danger of a de-identified blog is that you feel anonymous and warm and protected – and so write accordingly.  Trouble is – it’s easy to slip up and find that you are actually identifiable. 

For the former French employer of our British blogger, the issue is highlighted in that now, it seems, a likely legal battle will ensue with the result that at the very least the firm faces legal costs and is distracted.  There are a lot of issues around blogging, and the legal issues that relate to it.  Perhaps Belinda Thompson and I will co-write an article on this one – I know she’s done some research in the area for us.