Some of my favorite bloggers–one is Halley–say honest blogs in a personal voice are the wave of the (business) future. I disagree, for two reasons.
- Honest blogging can hurt your career.
- I don’t think your boss should expect to buy your “personal voice”.
1. How can your blog hurt your career? A recent conference summary at JOHO lists just a few ways. Federal law protects you by forbidding prospective employers to ask certain questions–“How old are you?” “How many children do you have?” But if you post such info in your blog–that protection is gone.
Once you are hired, you can be fired for stuff you post in your blog. It doesn’t have to be stuff like “Our product sucks.”
Suppose you have even one co-worker who doesn’t like you. Suppose this co-worker finds something “naughty” in your blog–you smoked dope, or you played football pools on company time, or whatever. Suppose this co-worker brings this to your boss–your boss could be in big trouble if he doesn’t act, even if he doesn’t want to–just the same way an airport security person could lose her job if she doesn’t confiscate tiny pocket knives.
2. How can you business-blog in a personal voice? If you write stuff your boss wouldn’t like, see problem #1, above. If you are careful not to write stuff your boss wouldn’t like, how is this honest and personal?
If your boss requires you to business-blog, can you do it during normal business hours? Or are you expected to blog “as a professional”–that is, after work, cutting into your family time?