Private Blog vs. Public Job

When we got assigned the task of creating a blog, I was skeptical at first. I have been told many times before that you should never write down anything that you don't want someone to read. In reference to those people that got fired for what they wrote in their blogs, I understand that they are upset. I don't think those people would have gone up to their boss and said the things they said in their blog, those employees should have known they would be fired. They say you can find anything out on the world wide web and if people are going to put private information out there they should not expect it to stay private. There are reasons some people won't even keep a jornal or diary, everything that gets written down has the potential of falling into the wrong hands. You have to either be willing to stand up for what you say and accept the consequences or just not write it down.

I think we all have a responsiblity to our companies, our fellow employees, and anyone we encounter. The responsibility we have to our companies deals with the fact that if we have complaints about the practices or procedures of the business environment that the employee would not go to the customer to complain. The employee should try and get the conflicts resolved internally, helping correct the problem. If the employee complains to the client and the client decides that this is not a company they would like to work with, then the company just lost business. The result of the loss of business could be downsizing and the possibility of the employee losing their job because of a misplaced complaint. The responsibility to the fellow employees is promoting good relations and good morall. If the workplace is not friendly it will slowly start to deteriorate and so will the quality of the product the company produces. Along with commenting on fellow employees is the feelings the specific person would have if they came across a blog that commented on themselves. The employee that found a blog entry on themselves might not have respect for the workplace they worked in anymore. This may lead to sabotaging product on purpose knowing that nobody at the company appreciated the work they did before, so why should that employ care if a good product is produced now. When it comes to the people we encounter on a regular basis the blogger should consider how they would feel if they came across a blog describing an incident and the person being commented on was someone they were close too, doing something they do on a normal basis or is just a quirk that they simply can't help. When thinking of others first, whether it is the company you work for, your fellow employees, or just the people in your every day life, all of society benefits.

Though some of these responsibilities may not result in being fired, they do have social consequences. They lead to a bad outlook on people writing them if the blog is always negative. Though on the other side blogs can be used for good. Knowledge can be spread using blogs, but it is our responsibility to look on blogs as we would anything that is written, if we look at others and frown at what they write we should also turn that around and evaluate our own writing in that light.