Continuing from the previous post on employee blog issues...
2. If You Didn't Own Your Posts Would You Blog?
This does not apply everywhere but imagine you were a brilliant mind in a knowledge industry such as programming, law, medicine, etc. You also have a definite career path in mind, i.e two more years at Firm A, three years at Firm B then off to your own start-up. Spending the rest of your life with a company is not for you. A blog is a great way to build your own brand. If you start a personal blog then you will always own your posts. If your initial blog is within your employer's blog framework then you don't own your posts. What do you do?
What happens when your employer says, "Hey Steve, you're really knowledgeable in the intellectual property law field why don't you blog about that on our corporate blog?" You can't really say no to your boss. If you start blogging do you hold back the really good stuff for your personal blog? Then what happens when you leave? (See previous)
Visitor Comments
Another good question, but it depends on your definition of ownership.
If you check most employment contracts you'll find that you don't own any of the professional IP you create as part of your employment (at least here in the UK), so why should you expect your blog to be any different?
I also think that credibility works both ways - I'd much rather be seen as a brilliant mind blogging officially on behalf of a well known company in my field, than talking about professional issues on my personal blog where I may not even want (or be able) to mention who I work for.
Employees whose firms have guidelines for personal blogs will be restricted in what they can say about their companies and the organisations they work for anyway, and this is where most of your experience comes from when you work in a professional services field.
Just my thoughts.
Posted by: Niall Cook | August 22, 2005 10:53 AM