In light of my previous post on job applicant bloggers, I want to extend that conversation via the Neanderthals post and comments at YP plus a noteworthy post on Pith in the Wind. The PITW post includes several comments to "The Muzzled Life". This part, I found a little disturbing:
Keeping work issues off your personal blog does not mean that your employer won't hold the blog against you. "It doesn't matter if you blog about skydiving or pornography," said Daniel M. Klein, a partner at the Atlanta law firm Buckley & Klein. "If your employer feels the blog makes you a poor representative of their corporate values, the executives have the freedom to disassociate themselves from you."(my emphasis)
I wonder how many bloggers started blogging with the intent of making their employer look bad? If an employee has a complaint (or criticism of his/her company), I would like to believe that most employers would rather that conversation find an appropriate internal venue. Bloggers who inadvertently post something that is deemed derogatory have all the tools available to them to correct that problem (even better tools than newpapers, magazines, etc....who tend to bury their errata). If a blogger finds conditions so abhorent that some social statement of criticism is needed, I would suggest that a simple letter of resignation is much more effective than a globally accessible rant on a blog.
If it ever boils down to being fired over a difference of opinion on something totally unrelated to work, then the thin line between 'freedom of speech' and 'representing an employer' becomes very fragile. If, as an employee you are expected to be an icon, a representative, or a part of 'the brand' of your employer, then you should understand that your entire life may be part of that representation. An employer who takes that expectation to the extreme, however, and expects the employee to express the company (or company management's) view, exclusively, on ALL topics, all of time needs to make that expectation very clear and compensate the employee accordingly. Employees who work without contract and who can be fired at will based perhaps on something as ambiguous as, behavior unbecoming to XYZ Company, must be honest with themselves and understand that there are risks (including firing)involved in exercising freedom of speech on a blog. Although you are constitutionally allowed your freedom of speech/expression, so too is your employer's right to fire you should your freedom of speech adversely affect the company or the company's image... it may not seem fair, but blogging comes with responsibilities and sometimes consequences...it is, after all, a personal option. The old cliche' "be sure brain is engaged before engaging mouth" needs to be updated to "be sure brain in engaged and job is secure before hitting the Post button on a blog".