Given The Sack For Blogging

Delta Airlines flight attendant, Ellen Simonetti, was fired for blogging.
(Source: http://www.joi.ito.com/weblog/2004/10/29/delta-airlines.html)


Why do people write blogs? Some people might probably say that blogging is a form of communication. It is also a means of publication on the Web of personal thoughts and opinions for other Internet users to read. What if the phenomenon itself has led to employee blogging casualties? Employee blogging has become a major issue, increasing clashes between employers and employees. An article ‘Fired for blogging: blog-related firings prompt calls for better company policies’ on CBS News (7 March 2005) reported that flight attendant Ellen Simonetti and former Google employee Mark Jen were fired for blogging. Simonetti posted pictures of herself in uniform, while Jen speculated online about corporate secrets which were his own employer’s finances.

Reep (2006, p. 41) states that ‘people who use [blogs] to criticise companies or other people can face lawsuits for Internet slander’. This is why some people have lost their job because of blogging. As Broache described in her article (2008) to prevent it from happening, some certain companies such as Cisco, Sun Microsystems, Yahoo, Google and Dell have a blogging policy for their employees to disclose that they work for the company when they do blogging, social networking, Wikipedia entry-editing, or other online activities related to the company. For instance, Sun Microsystems has had its blogging guidelines since 2004 that prohibit speculating on non-public financial or operational information, including financial data, code, personal information about other individuals, and posting photographs, articles, or music without permission. (Click for PDF)

As a blogger, I find blogging helpful to record my activities and events and to document my life. This has been established by Nardi et al. (2004, p. 41) who states that ‘bloggers are driven to document their lives, provide commentary and opinions, express deeply felt emotions, articulate ideas through writing, and form and maintain community forums’. Also, employees might find blogs helpful for team projects and an exchange of information (Reep 2006, p. 41). However, we should know how to respect other people and to behave ethically when blogging to prevent from ethical problems.


References

Broache, A 2008, ‘Corporate employee blogs: Lawsuits waiting to happen?’, CNET News.com 26 March, viewed 10 June 2008, <http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9903070-7.html>.

CBS News 7 March 2005, ‘Fired for blogging: blog-related firings prompt calls for better company policies’, New York, viewed 10 June 2008, <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/07/tech/main678554.shtml>.

Nardi, BA, Schiano, DJ, Gumbrecht, M & Swartz, L 2004, ‘Why we blog’, Communications of the ACM, vol. 47, no. 12, pp. 41 – 46.

Reep, DC 2006, Technical writing: principles, strategies, and readings, 6th edn, Pearson Education, Inc., New York.