Microsoft's employee blogging policy

It's really very simple - blog smart.

Talking from the inside out: The rise of employee bloggers

Employee_Blogging.pdf (application/pdf Object)

When the Blogger Blogs, Can the Employer Intervene?

The New York Times: TOM ZELLER Jr.

Citing an example of a Technorati employee who posted to his private blog. The employee was simply asked by his manager whether he thought the post was appropriate. Raises questions about where the personal starts and where does work finish, particularly as it was a satirical piece. The article also hints at the dark side of open blogging policies, such as Sun Microsystems. Sure they may empower employees but it also gives management a way to monitor what is being said by an employee - particularly when the policy requires employees to blog under their real names.

Goodbye Bounded Entity! How Employee Blogging Transcends and Alters Organisational Boundaries

Bounded entities - those discrete organisations that have artificial communication walls - are a thing of the past when employees begin to blog. Employee blogs alter internal boundaries and utilise the power of individual social networks. They are a force of mobilisation of action across functional and geographic lines.

Worth noting that PR is a function of management and leadership and it's something that must be managed rather than controlled when employees blog.

Policies compared: Today's corporate blogging rules

Link to Policies compared: Today's corporate blogging rules

Groundswell (Incorporating Charlene Li's Blog): Blogging policy examples

Groundswell (Incorporating Charlene Li's Blog): Blogging policy examples: "One thing that I discuss in my report on corporate blogging is the need for policies, one for a company to provide guidelines to its employee bloggers, and the other for the blogger – a “code of ethics” to build trust with readers. Please keep in mind that these are sample policies – every company and blogger will have to modify them to meet their own needs."

The link here provides a sample code of ethics and blogging policy and is well worth the read for people considering a corporate blog.

eclecticism » Blog Archive » Of blogging and unemployment

eclecticism » Blog Archive » Of blogging and unemployment: "“Good. That means that as it’s your site on your own server, you have the right to say anything you want. Unfortunately, Microsoft has the right to decide that because of what you said, you’re no longer welcome on the Microsoft campus.”"

Microsoft fires worker over weblog | Seattlepi.com

Microsoft fires worker over weblog: "Michael Hanscom began keeping an online journal, commonly known as a weblog, several years ago. He started his job as a contract worker in Microsoft's print shop last year. Last week, he mixed the two. This week, he's looking for a new job, after becoming an unwilling case study in the fine line walked by corporate employees who write about work in their personal weblogs."

Termination and unfair dismissal

Termination and unfair dismissal is a pdf from DoCEP which deals with unfair dismissal cases in Australia. What is important is the Federal governments Workchoices legislation excludes many businesses from regulation under this Act; however Unlawful dismissal is covered across the whole of Australia. Unlawful dismissal is what I will be the focus of my next essay; although not from a legal perspective.

Blogging rights

Blogging rights (link requires subscription)

Addressing blogging by employees

The authors point out that private blogs are those that are updated outside of work hours on the employee's own computer; to update a private blog on a work computer would automatically create a case for the wrongful use of company equipment.

Between 2003 and 2004 the readership of blogs increased 58% to 32 million (quoting Per Internet and American Life Project)

The disclosure of trade secrets is off limits and would qualify as mis-appropriation by an employee.

Disclosure of company rumours on a blog could breach regulations in relation to market disclosure. Such rumours may include resignations or dismissals of key corporate staff where there exists a requirement to disclose this information to regulators prior to release to the market.

Whilst it may be legal to terminate a blogger's employment, it may be unwise to do so. Staff morale and public perception of the company may both be damaged as a result of a poorly handled contract termination. It is noted that termination may be a particularly unwise move if the company does not have a clear, published policy on blogging practices.

It is noted that a well thought out blogging policy is as important as an email or Internet usage policy, however, a more proactive approach may be to create a "company blogoshphere" where employees can become involved and where the company can exercise some practical control.

The issue this article raises, but doesn't directly address is what is considered public and private space. Rather than getting to a point where an unfair dismissal case occurs it is better practice to be openly proactive with staff.

Interns? No Bloggers Need Apply | The New York Times

Young people are running into trouble with their blogging activities as a result of the way they live their lives: It's not unusual, this article suggests, for young people to post photos of their graduation alongside party photos; and this, the article suggests, is because young people have a new way of viewing what is sensitive.

The article notes that most companies don't have blog policies, but many have policies on the use of IM, email, and Internet. The author believes this practice is inconsistent and needs to be addressed by managers.

Perspective: I was fired for blogging | Cnet News

The first hand account of Ellen Simonetti who was fired for posting "inappropriate" photos on her blog. Simonetti claims to have filed a sex discrimination claim with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Delta Airlines, and despite her best attempts, being unable to find a specific Delta Airlines policy in relation to posting photos or blogging.

Blogging And The American Workplace | Emplyment Law Alliance

CEO of Employment Law Alliance, Steve Hirschfield claims that a poll of 1000 adults, conducted in January 2006, finds that 5% of US workers maintain a blog, whilst only 15% of their employers have a policy directly dealing with blogging practice. The article concludes that there may be as many as 10 million bloggers in the US at the time of the report.

This indicates the potential for litigation and potential conflict between employees and employers is significant, and with the number of blogs growing daily the problem is not about to go away.

Navigating Blogs In The Workplace | Delaware SHRM

Article from Delaware SHRM outlining the problems and pitfalls from corporate blogging and demonstrating that, in the US, free speech is supported by the First Amendment, however this does not protect a person from the consequences of this free speech.

Blogging the Hand That Feeds You - New York Times

Blogging the Hand That Feeds You - New York Times

Light-weight article (with apologies to the author) about blogging; the risks of being fired.

Employee fired by Starbucks over Blog

The employee signed an agreement not to say anything negative about the company. He posted an angry blog entry that was critical of his manager whilst not naming him. The employee stated that the post was only intended for his family and friends. The employee stated that he felt "violated" when he found out the company had read his blog.

The article mentions that companies use monitoring services regularly as a way to monitor the

What's interesting here is that the employee apparently confused his blog as a private space when, in fact, the very nature of blogs is that they are usually intensely public.

The article concludes by suggesting that the challenge facing both employers and employees is to find the line between what is acceptable free speech and potentially harmful content to the employer.

Written by Jason Koulouras
Published September 04, 2004

The Whole Story (… or as much as I know anyways)

Jeremy Wright got fired for saying that it was "priceless" that he was being paid to blog while the company server was down. Right or wrong it's an interesting response by management to the exercise of free speech.

Jeremy suggests that the company had no official blogging policy. Quite dangerous in this day and age really!

Blogger dismissed from Microsoft - Tech News & Reviews - MSNBC.com

The poor chap got sacked for publishing a pic to a blog of some Apple computers being delivered to Microsoft. The article quotes the person as saying that he's still not 100% sure why he was fired - but fired, he was.

Here's the million dollar quote:

Blogger dismissed from Microsoft - Tech News & Reviews - MSNBC.com: "If firms are discovering that blogging bans can backfire, it also can be difficult to establish fair guidance. “The lines between public and private, and the lines between inside and outside a workplace, are absolutely being blurred,” says John Palfrey, executive director of Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for the Internet and Society. “What makes something effective as a blog is on the edge of what’s uncomfortable for an employer.”"

Out of control bloggers in the minority

The Society for Human Resource Management published this report as of 2005, indicating that only 3% of employees were disciplined for blogging practices that breached company regulations. The study also showed that 3% of organisations read potential employees blogs as a tool in the recruitment and selection process.

What is interesting here is the report was conducted in 2005. Considering blogs were only just becoming popular in 2004 it would be interesting to see what's happened in the intervening couple of years.