Blogging and representations of the professional self
In this thread, Joel on Software - blogging and representations of the professional self, one writer says: "I recently was rejected for a job, because I don't have a blog. Er, at least I think that was why I was rejected. The job involved producing blog-making software at a startup, so the company had a right to be concerned about my 'lack of internet presence.' " A number of others replied to this post and that resulted in some interesting dialog about this person's dilemma.

That snippet from the discussion section of the Joel on Software blog provides an entirely different perspective on the discussion that Darrell Beasey and I had in the comment section of my post from Saturday. Darrell had pointed out that he had read in other blogs that a few people had been fired because of things they had written on their blog. I had heard that too, and the thread on Joel's site provides a link to one such instance. What's different in this thread though is that the primary focus is on why NOT having a blog can be a handicap. Like everything else, I suppose there are pros and cons to blogging, and you are "damned if you do and damned if you don't."

In another development about the corporate blogging book, Scoble posted a note on the 7th at his The Red Couch blog laying out the rules for ownership of the content of both what they post and any comments anyone else makes about their project on their site. That statement of position is apparently necessary to guarantee that they can approach a publisher and claim legitimate ownership of all the material in order to get it published. When I first read his statement, particularly in point #2, I misread it as saying that they were claiming ownership to anything that I, or any other blogger, might publish on our own site pertaining to their book was theirs, which sounded very wrong to me, but I now see that my original reading was incorrect. The statement seems entirely justified and probably wise as a way of avoiding any complications later on. Also after the first rush of enthusiasm has waned, the harsh reality of the difficulties of the project seem to have dawned on Robert and Shel, and they have now begun to deal with the details, wherein it is often said the Devil resides.

- posted by Perry @ 6:50 AM