ORACLENERD: Blogging Safely

Blogging Safely

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Jake from AppsLab left a link in the comments to my previous post, Lessons Learned. The link was to an article about Mark Jen, who was fired from Google after 11 days for blogging.

It got me curious as to what was out there, so below is a list of links that point to either "safe blogging" articles or those that were fired for blogging about their company.

Lessons Learned From Google Blogger Who Got Fired - 5 lessons here. #5 is, "Don't make the same mistake twice."

Of Blogging and Unemployment - a former Microsoft employee gets the sack.

Delta employee fired over blog sues company

Fired simply for having a blog

Beware if your blog is related to work

Have a blog, lose your job?

Avoid getting fired for blogging

Warning: Your clever little blog could get you fired

How to Blog Safely (About Work or Anything Else)

Or you can just google it.

Back to lessons learned, I'll speak with management or HR at my next company to see if they have guidelines. If not, I'll err on the cautious side and not mention anything.

Labels: blogging, humility, rant, work

¶ 5/28/2008 10:03:00 PM

Comments:

Interesting to read these things, I was a little unsure when I started blogging exactly what I could and could not say. I'm glad to say that Oracle has a blogging policy, after reading that I felt much more comfortable. I know to avoid a few things, most important thing to avoid is talking about specific product areas that are not yet released, this is due to revenue recognition rules. A blogging policy is a good way to encourage more people to blog and let them know what is an isn't ok - more companies should have them I think.

# posted by

David Haimes : May 28, 2008 at 11:07 PM

David,

Tonight I sent a note to a VP who had reached out to me before (and then chastised me) that, at the very least, they should consider addressing it formally.

Maybe something good can come out of this...

# posted by

oraclenerd : May 29, 2008 at 12:51 AM

I like your blog... we bloggers want to share our experiences with others. If we would only talk about the things that went fine, how could you learn from it?

I also find it very difficult to know what to blog or not blog ;-)

Good luck in your new job,
Dimitri

# posted by

Dimitri Gielis : May 29, 2008 at 6:04 AM

Thanks Dimitri.

I agree, how would we learn? One of my favorite blogs is Signals vs Noise, they seem to post both good and bad and, in my opinion, that's a really good thing.

I also read the DailyWTF and I've found that has been a tremendous help...in what not to do!

# posted by

oraclenerd : May 29, 2008 at 9:38 AM

David makes a good point about rev rec. Pro bloggers tend to think we're ducking questions, but the company takes rev rec very seriously.

Dimitri's point is funny. Bloggers make a great support group, since we all hit a lot of the same walls.

As for you, I think you have interview questions to ask prospective employers now. Maybe 37signals needs a DBA. Are you any good at MySQL :)

# posted by

Jake : May 29, 2008 at 4:02 PM