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Blogging
With some 33 million blogs online and 70,000 new blogs launched every day (according to Technorati, a search engine that tracks blogs), even companies that don't encourage their employees to blog should pay attention: Any one of their employees could be blogging about the company. They could be publishing confidential information, embarrassing observations about the CEO, or something that's libelous or plagiarized. Companies that fail to establish blogging policies are risking public embarrassment or fines and convictions for breaking the law. If a company has a policy and an employee breaks it, courts are more likely to see the wrongdoing as the fault of the employee, not the company.
Most of the CIOs we interviewed say their companies hadn't yet turned their attention to blogging policies because they were still working out policies involving email and Internet use.
Charlene Li, a Forrester Research Inc. analyst who studies blogging policies, is a major advocate of blogging as a marketing tool; after all, it can put a personal face on an otherwise anonymous corporate entity. Li believes that most companies can proceed with simple rules that cover all forms of communication. For instance, bloggers are covered by their companies' general policies, which usually include provisions against breaking the law, creating a hostile work environment and spilling company secrets.
"The key thing is to not overthink it. This is really simple stuff," Li says. Even so, "you're not going to get it right the first time. ... If you try to make it perfect, you'll be doomed and you'll never get it started." Li advocates learning about policies "on the job, on the blog."
At least one midsized company agrees with her: Thomas Nelson Publishers, a Nashville, Tenn., company that publishes religious and inspirational books. An equity firm took the $247-million publisher private in February.
Thomas Nelson CEO and President Michael Hyatt got into blogging two years ago after he broke his leg. While he was recuperating, he began reading blogs and decided to launch his own. Soon after, he decided to encourage his employees to blog too.
In hopes of creating an open dialogue, Hyatt instituted an unusual blogging guideline for employees who want the publisher to link to their blog. Among other things, the policy allows bloggers to disagree with the company. "You are welcome to disagree with the Company's leaders, provided your tone is respectful," the policy reads. "If in doubt, we suggest that you 'sleep on it' and then submit your entry to the [oversight committee] before posting it on your blog."
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