for my fellow bloggers

Can You Be Fired for Blogging?

By Kate Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com

It was Merriam-Webster Online's No. 1 word of 2004, and Fortunemagazine named it the No. 1 tech trend for 2005. Two surveys by thePew Internet & American Life Project in November 2004 found that 8million people say they have created one and almost one-third ofInternet users say they read one. But it's still a mystery: Six-of-tenInternet users say they don't know what "blog" means.

A blog, according to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, is "a Website that contains an online personal journal with reflections,comments and often hyperlinks provided by the writer."

Bloggers write about their lives to keep friends and familyup-to-date, talk about their industry, discuss hobbies or rant abouttheir favorite reality TV show. But posting pictures of you at work,disclosing confidential information about your employer, orbad-mouthing your co-workers could get you in hot water for committinginappropriate behavior.

Whether or not it's intentional, divulging dirt about your job canspell trouble at work. Ellen Simonetti, a flight attendant for Delta,learned this the hard way.

Simonetti started a blog as a way to cope with her mother's deathbecause she found it easier to write about her feelings than talkabout them. She described it as an anonymous, semi-fictitious accountof life as a flight attendant -- and she lost her job because of it.

Simonetti claims her termination resulted from pictures posted on herWeb site, which show her in uniform aboard a Delta airplane. "The onlyreason I was given was the very vague phrase: `inappropriate picturesin uniform.' Delta will not define what `inappropriate' means, nortell me which pictures they found `inappropriate'," she says. Whenasked about the issue, a Delta representative said the company doesnot discuss internal employee-related issues with the media.

Whatever bloggers are writing about work, employers don't like it.Employees have reportedly been fired for blogging at a number ofcompanies, including Starbucks, Delta, Wells Fargo, Friendster and Kmart.

In a January 2005 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management(SHRM), only 3 percent of human resource professionals reportdisciplining an employee for blogging and none reported dismissing anemployee for such behavior. Despite this, ejected bloggers stand by their claims.

What could be grounds for termination? If you are disclosing tradesecrets or proprietary or confidential information on your blog orusing excessive amounts of time when you should be working, it'spossible you will reap the consequences, says Rosemary Haefner, vicepresident for human resources at CareerBuilder.com.

"Companies need to do their best to not only protect their interests,but protect their employees," says Jeremy Wright, fired blogger andfounder of InsideBlogging, a blog consulting company. "Most firingsare due to individual bosses taking drastic measures; it is rarely ahigher company decision. When a blogger is going to be fired, the HRteam needs to be sure it is for the right reason and that reactivemeasures simply aren't being taken due to fear or personal issues."

If you're thinking of starting your own blog or already have one,here's some advice to make sure your online diary isn't reason foryour employer to let you go:

1. Know where your company stands.Ask about the company blogging policy before you start, even if youare doing it anonymously, Simonetti advises. Does your companyestablish boundaries? Is blogging acceptable? Is it OK to mention youremployer? Are there topics that are off-limits? What are the consequences?

2. Blog on your own time.If you are using company hardware, a company network or doing it oncompany time, you are likely bound by company policy and could bereprimanded or terminated for wrongful use, Haefner says.

3. Practice safe blogs."Employees who go around sharing negative or confidential informationabout their company, product, or service -- either internal orexternal -- to the company would and should get fired," says PeteQuintas, CTO of SilkRoad Technology, creator of an enterprise bloggingapplication called Silkblogs. "You need to be honest and not secretiveabout what you are writing unless you are willing to deal with theconsequences."

4. Don't hide it from your boss.Quintas says you should be honest about your blogging, and ask youremployer if it is OK to do. "I would consider it analogous to askingyour employer: 'I have been invited to speak on a panel at thisindustry conference; can I participate?'"

5. Use good judgment.If you consider blogs and the Internet an extension of your voice,what you say on your blog about your company, product or serviceshould be kept within the guidelines of what you would verbally say inpublic, according to Quintas. "Treat it with the same restraint of howyou talk in person about your company, remembering that more peoplehave access to what you say." he suggests. "Don't say anythingdifferent than what you would say at a happy hour, or at a companyholiday party, or at an industry trade show, or in front of a customer."

6. Others will disagree with you.You can't please all people all of the time. As with anycommunications medium, the best advice is to be aware of therepercussions your decisions may have, Wright warns. "Anytime youpost, you are effectively making a choice between being safe, andhaving something worthwhile to say. It's a rare occasion where you canboth please everyone and come up with a new and engaging line ofthought. Sometimes things you say will offend people, no matter whereyou're saying them."