Is Blogging While at Work Safe?

Posted on April 15, 2005

So how many bloggers out there are blogging on company time? Would your boss approve of your daily commitment to your blog? Mark Sahm, who wrote an entry for BlogCritics called, Blogging on Company Time, says he blogs on company time and he says the company policy allows web surfing as long as it is kept to a minimum. However, the company policy says nothing about blogging.

Currently, the form I signed for my company says that the employee is allowed to peruse the Internet or send personal messages, but it should be kept to a minimum, and "not interfere with any company affairs." It's an honor system of sorts, but every one of us knows we take advantage of it so we can do our daily communications and (for you angry bloggers out there) circumvent our stress.

Mark wonders how long the good times will last. Will employers eventually crack down on employee blogging that is not work-related? Mark writes:

Eventually though, I wonder to what degree companies will do away with this honor system. That a security guard server will survey every time Mark updates his blog or visits a site that can't possibly have anything to do with company business, and hit me with an automated e-mail that docks me a twenty-spot for all unauthorized activity. While I erase my Firefox cache almost every day, I wonder if that even matters anymore. How long will it be before our Internet freedoms at work are taken away for good?

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