|
|||||
|
Blog and busted Blog and bustedBy STAFF CORRESPONDENT It's amazing what people will publish on the Internet that they would never say in public. You may think that old picture of you and your friends, drunk or half-dressed is funny or a rant about your boss or job cathartic, but will other people? Web logs, also known as "blogs" are basically a web site where people can post their thoughts or diatribes, sort of an on-line journal. Blogs can be about politics, religion, or even about your cats.
In the old days, your resume and prior job listings were only what employers or potential employers could check. Again, in the old days, if an employer wanted a reading on how the attitude of his or her employees were at any given moment, all he had to do was send a corporate sympathizer or "plant" down to the water cooler and report their findings. Today’s technology and the explosion of individually bottled water has changed forever the method of attaining information on employee’s feelings about their work or their company, even about their town. You should ask yourself if it is worth publishing online when it could easily come back to haunt you, sometimes years later. For employers, googling job candidates is becoming a standard step in the research and hiring process. Writing blogs that may not show your employer, work or attitude in the best light could affect your ability to get or even keep your job. Posting comments on the Internet is about the same as sending those comments to the letters to the editor page of every newspaper in the world. In recent years it has become common place for larger companies to extend to employees new guidelines regarding the use of company email accounts and strict usage of company networks while on the job. In fact, it has become common knowledge that corporations and government employers alike are known to "peep" from time to time in on what their employees might be writing outside the organization. "If your boss should see your blog and be offended by something there, in most states you have virtually no protection against being fired," says Lewis Maltby, president of the National Workrights Institute in Princeton, N.J. Now before you quote the First Amendment and think your free speech rights quashed if you are banned from blogging, you should read the text again. It says, "Congress shall make no law" that abridges "freedom of speech, or of the press." That doesn't say anything about private employers. The First Amendment protects you only from censorial governments. Rights are always accompanied by responsibilities and what you publish in an informal, unedited blog just may be giving off the wrong message. If you wouldn’t say it to someone’s face or wouldn’t want your mama or preacher to know about it, don’t say it in a blog. You just may save your professional reputation. Like the old saying says: "never poop where you eat!" Here is an example of what not to do in this highly technical, freedom of information age we live in. Check out the local Baker County Standard’s editor, Michelle Harris’s views on her new "Small Town" and some of the players that make it so small. Excerpts from: www.michelleharrisonline.blogspot.com Sunday, August 3, 2008 Woman and Fire "…For instance, earlier this week I posted an Op/Ed piece that seemed to rankle the judge in Small Town. Probably not my first choice of people to T-off, but there it is. I just wished that he had channeled his verbosity and indignation into a letter to the editor. But instead, he just chewed out my boss. He didn't even want to talk to me about why I chose that piece or who the writer was. No, he went straight to pissed off and straight to the top person in charge. But isn't that the point of Op/Ed - to voice the opinions of the community? By its very nature it is controversial. If we all liked vanilla ice cream, what a boring town this would be (As if it could get any more boring - but I digress) But I guess this is what Professor Foley meant when he told me "Don't get hit." Anyway, my boss didn't seem to have a problem with the piece. In any case, I have fire. So if they fire me tomorrow, I'll just light the grill and cook me some conservative Small Town ass." Posted by Michelle Lee Harris at 8:03pm Friday, July 11, 2008 Small Town Politics "…Just a couple of weeks ago, Small Town had a single-party ticket with two evenly matched candidates. Because of state law, the primary became universal and all were set to vote. Then, not one but two write-in candidates threw their hats into the ring. And they are running for House Representative to boot. Not some city council seat or even county commissioners office. Noooooo! These two average Joe's have aspirations for Tallahassee. One couldn't decide if he wanted to run for the county commission seat or the House seat and had to ask one of the key members of the Republican party to download and complete the forms for him. Can you say M-A-N-I-P-U-L-A-T-I-O-N? I knew you could. It seems this was all discussed over the counter of the local gun & pawn shop. (OMG)" Posted by Michelle Lee Harris at 10:05 pm. Tuesday, July 8, 2008 A Just Enough Attitude "…It is said that if you find a job that you love, you will never work another day in your life. Well, I am here to tell you, I love my job." Posted by Michelle Lee Harris at 5:56pm Read all of Michelle’s postings at www.michelleharrisonline.blogspot.com UPDATE: Link now reads: Blog not found Sorry, the blog you were looking for does not exist. However, the name michelleharrisonline is available to register!
|
      |
||||
