Comments on: Corporations and the blogosphere http://www.magicpotofjobs.com/2006/10/02/corporations-and-the-blogosphere/ Powered by Cheezhead Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:05:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Lisa http://www.magicpotofjobs.com/2006/10/02/corporations-and-the-blogosphere/#comment-2473 Lisa Thu, 05 Oct 2006 02:53:06 +0000 http://www.magicpotofjobs.com/2006/10/02/corporations-and-the-blogosphere/#comment-2473 But just like people think that no one's listening to them talk about company confidential information at the airport (they are), a lot of people think that no one but their friends are reading their live journal (leak company sensitve information and they are). Too many people think that because they didn't publicize a link that other people won't find it (you'd be surprised). The airport thing was something that IBM went over constantly. You never know who else is on your flight. You never know who else the client is hearing pitches from. Don't give away the business by talking too much in the wrong place. (On the plus side, we were also instructed to stop others from doing that by identifying ourselves as their competition should the need arise.) Perhaps a policy - you have opinions about things. Your home computer is an excellent place from which to express them rather than resources we pay for or whatever seems appropriate. But yes, saying nothing and then having to deal with the fallout seems far worse than thinking it through ahead of time. But just like people think that no one’s listening to them talk about company confidential information at the airport (they are), a lot of people think that no one but their friends are reading their live journal (leak company sensitve information and they are). Too many people think that because they didn’t publicize a link that other people won’t find it (you’d be surprised). The airport thing was something that IBM went over constantly. You never know who else is on your flight. You never know who else the client is hearing pitches from. Don’t give away the business by talking too much in the wrong place. (On the plus side, we were also instructed to stop others from doing that by identifying ourselves as their competition should the need arise.)

Perhaps a policy - you have opinions about things. Your home computer is an excellent place from which to express them rather than resources we pay for or whatever seems appropriate. But yes, saying nothing and then having to deal with the fallout seems far worse than thinking it through ahead of time.

]]> By: dawn http://www.magicpotofjobs.com/2006/10/02/corporations-and-the-blogosphere/#comment-2456 dawn Tue, 03 Oct 2006 12:52:24 +0000 http://www.magicpotofjobs.com/2006/10/02/corporations-and-the-blogosphere/#comment-2456 A friend of mine sent me an article that noted that blogging is as essential to our generation as the telephone was to the previous generation. There's so much truth to that. I appreciate my current company because their attitude is that they know we're going to do it and they're going to read it so use sound judgment and we will never have to talk about it. That said, I don't know what it's like to work at a huge company with internationally sought trade secrets. I don't know how I as a blogger would have survived at HP when Carly Fiorina was ousted because I would have wanted to use "blog as soapbox" to invite commentary. The Web is just the "Broadcast News" of our genre -- we're mad as hell, we're not gonna take it anymore and we're gonna preserve it for posterity and make sure the world (and not just the local network affiliate) knows that we were affected by something and maybe, in that, we could effect some change for the better. Blah blah blah. Point is, a little trust could go a long way in generating a lot of loyalty. Full transparency is impossible, yet a simple, "Here's the CliffsNotes version; can we count on you for your discretion and loyalty?" might -- *gasp* -- work if someone tried it! A friend of mine sent me an article that noted that blogging is as essential to our generation as the telephone was to the previous generation. There’s so much truth to that. I appreciate my current company because their attitude is that they know we’re going to do it and they’re going to read it so use sound judgment and we will never have to talk about it.

That said, I don’t know what it’s like to work at a huge company with internationally sought trade secrets. I don’t know how I as a blogger would have survived at HP when Carly Fiorina was ousted because I would have wanted to use “blog as soapbox” to invite commentary.

The Web is just the “Broadcast News” of our genre — we’re mad as hell, we’re not gonna take it anymore and we’re gonna preserve it for posterity and make sure the world (and not just the local network affiliate) knows that we were affected by something and maybe, in that, we could effect some change for the better.

Blah blah blah. Point is, a little trust could go a long way in generating a lot of loyalty. Full transparency is impossible, yet a simple, “Here’s the CliffsNotes version; can we count on you for your discretion and loyalty?” might — *gasp* — work if someone tried it!

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