Separating Work From Blogging

I was looking at a couple of my favourite blogs, one of which is called "My Other Blog". He doesn't allow comments (more's the pity) but he writes often and about interesting things. Sometimes he forgets punctuation but for those who regularly read my blog or at least stop in occasionally for a visit, you know by now that I often will open a paranthesis but forget to close it! So I won't hold that occasional forgotten period against Rick.

Tonight (well, this morning... the gods only know what I am doing up at... good gods, it is 0324 - half my shift is over), I found this on his blog:

"Thursday, July 20, 2006

Blogger Gets Fired: This is another one of those stories that CNN is so found of regading someone who does something wrong and refuses to face the consequences of their actions. The blogger in question said some inflamitory things regarding the company where she works. So what, I say inflamitory things about where I work, and I run the place. But what got her in trouble was that she was using her work time (and I suppose a company computer) to blog to her thousands of daily readers. The company said "Enough!" and gave her the boot. But the article talks about her "right" to blog (she is now suing the company). She claims that she was doing a private blog and it is her right to spend her free time as she wishes.

Reality Check. Every company that I have worked for has had some policy on the use of company property for personal use. The last company I asked for (in writing) the "right" to use my cellular for personal use when I was traveling and the right to use my computer to communicate with my family, also when traveling. But this was a different situation, I wasn't sitting in an office, I was giving my personal time to the company by traveling. If my employees wanted to blog on their free time, I don't think that I would have a problem with it, so long as they asked. I wonder if she asked?

posted by Rick at 6:51 AM"

Clearly I'm not the only keeping odd blogging hours... But at 0651 on almost any weekday, I'm already at work!

It so happens that we have a very comprehensive computer policy that no one (except me and the management) seems to follow. Everyone downloads picture slide show screen savers, everyone has idiotic smiley faces in their e-mails (I squashed that one when it showed up in one entire department's e-mails - good gods. I know this was coming from the right place (warm & fuzzy, something we both see eye to eye on!) but I finally sent an e-mail asking them to please kill those happy faces (as if it wasn't enough that they were happy faces, they actually moved - yikes!). They know the policy as well as I do. (However, this is the hardest policy in any computerized place to enforce, next to time keeping!)

But people consistently forget that any company, when it comes to their communications, be it mail, e-mail, faxes, phone conversations, whatever, are owned by the company and just don't even think for a moment that the First Amendment has any place in this conversation! Welcome to Comapny XYZ, soveriegn nation when it comes to communications.

I love my blog and I think I'm at least a passable writer. I do put some things up that related to work - let's face it, out of a one hundred eighty hour week, some 35 - 50 hours are spent there. And it is, overall, time exceedingly well spent. I'm lucky - I rarely have gripes about my job or work and really have an overwhelming affection for my situation and people in it. But even when I do have a gripe (it is a wonderful job but it is not all roses and song by any means) I generally keep it to myself or maybe allow a very broad nondescript whinge to make it onto my blog and then drop it. I don't think anyone at work would really take offense to anything I post about it or my specific job. They may find the other topics objectionable on a personal level, such as my views on religion and th overwhelming desire to discuss sexual matters, but again, not a terminable offense. And I do NOT use work time to blog. Ever.

So was the company right? Well, let's put it this way. At least two people I know have My Space sites that are... questionable. As long as they don't broadcast their sites or ever post anything regarding their employment I don't care. (I don't particularly agree with putting up photos of their very gang-member-like friends and such, but they are young and well... one can only hope that the strong resemblance to gang life is just that... but not my business and not my problem.) However, in the process of reviewing and re-writing our employee manual, I will tell you that there will absolutely be verbiage about blogging and Web postings in there. Especially in our industry.

In this, the company does indeed come first. I agree it is a god-given right to complain, but not to publicly bash your company on the Internet!