A number of weeks ago I wrote about blogging and how people are starting to get large audiences and even earn a living from their blog posts. I also realize that you can get into a lot of trouble writing blogs especially when they pertain to information about your company or even the people whom you work with.
There are number of well documented cases not only here in this country but in other countries where people have inadvertently crossed the line. One case involves a Microsoft employee who simply took pictures of Apple G5 computers being delivered to the Microsoft campus. I guess he just couldn’t resist the irony! And there’s another case in Paris, where a woman was writing about her experiences about work and was terminated even though she didn’t mention the firm’s name. Although she did include her photo in her blog, which I suppose linked her to the firm and was in effect grounds for dismissal. Interestingly, after her dismissal the word got out and her blog swelled to over 10,000 “hits.”
I bring all this up because sometimes I think I should write a personal blog about my experiences with online dating. Not only do I think it would be hilariously funny, but I could finally send all my married friends there. Every week they ask me about the women I date and this way I wouldn’t have to give the same story 10 times (I have lots of married friends). Sometimes I wonder if they are calling me because they are genuinely interested in my happiness and well being or if my stories are just a source of weekly entertainment. Personally, I believe it’s both!
However, I would only do this with a couple of rules, I would change the names of the women I date to protect the innocent (or not so innocent) and I would use a “pen name” to secure my identity and also to ensure I am able to get future dates! And lastly, I would never ever post a picture of anyone, especially of myself.
I do have one major concern that could perhaps could get me in hot water or possibly fired if I were to proceed! Here at SharedBook, we have a great tool. Our Blog2Print widget allows people to create a book from the content of your blog and we give 20% back to the content owner on all books sold.
So here’s my question: what if my blog got extremely popular and I started to make lots of extra money selling books with Blog2Print? Would that be considered “moonlighting” or personal use of company property? I wonder … perhaps in this case, discretion is the better part of valor!
Comments