TheBanyanTree: Blogging About Work

[Margaret R. Kramer]

I’ve been reading about people getting fired for not necessarily keeping a
blog or an online diary, but because they mention activities going on at
work.  It seems most of these people do not broadcast the name of their
company or the names of their coworkers, but somehow, somebody at their
workplace discovers these online confessionals and the individuals get
fired.

I’m not sure if there have been any court challenges.  I can understand
someone being fired if they’re giving away company secrets.  But if someone
is writing in their blog from home, why is that any different than writing
the same things into a handwritten “Dear Diary” notebook.  Sure, the
notebook might not necessarily be public, but it could be if someone
discovers it.

Besides, for many people, their work lives are their lives.  The things that
go on at work often affect them when they go home, so it’s natural to want
to write about workplace issues.  I’m surprised at how long the arms are of
our companies that they can reach into our lives after we leave the job.

I suppose it’s the same kind of thing with smoking, too.  Companies don’t
want smoking employees, even when they only smoke at home, so they fire
them.  Or they eliminate break times, like my previous company did, so
people won’t smoke other than at lunch.

What about drugs and alcohol?  My last company tolerated, and probably still
does, alcoholic behavior, whereas my current company will get rid of people
fairly quickly if they demonstrate the typical alcoholic behavior of being
consistently late, obviously hungover, and sleeping during meetings.

So it seems these large corporations can run our lives even when we’re not
in the office.  They try to control what we write and whether we smoke or
drink.  Meanwhile, they take away our pensions, our healthcare insurance,
and other benefits.

Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth being a slave to my job.  But I’ll continue
to keep my blog and my online diary and write my little essays.  I will
write about workplace issues as they affect me and take the risk of being
fired.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net

http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy
enough people to make it worth the effort.  ~Herm Albright