Blogging and work, or, 'going barefoot in the library'

I recently wrote a blog post about my experiences of bipolar disorder. The post was very personal but contained things that I felt it was important to share, both for my own sake and for the sake of the greater good of society. This raises some interesting issues. Blogs and social media bridge the gap between  personal and public spaces but if you mention your workplace in a social media setting then you are treading on a sensitive area.

There is an old story about interview candidates for the post of royal chauffeur. The candidates were asked: "How close to a cliff edge do you think you could drive without falling over?" The first candidate says "I am a very good driver. I think I could drive three inches away from the cliff without falling over."  The second candidate said, "That's easy. If I was driving along a cliff I would stay as far away from the edge as possible." Needless to say, the queen employs the latter. The moral of this story is that it is wise to stay as far away as possible from controversial or negative areas unless you feel it is absolutely necessary to do so. When blogging I try only to say positive things about people and organisations. As a teacher I was taught to praise the good and ignore the bad and this is how I try to relate to people. Nevertheless, there are exceptions where one feels it is important to speak out, This is where fine judgement is called for.

I heard a story last week about an employee, not from my organisation, who was sacked for something he wrote on Facebook about his company. The person who told me the story was deeply shocked: he said that  that person was the best salesman of the company and someone who everyone respected.

I was surprised when I heard that story. Without knowing quite what was posted it is difficult to comment, but I explained that I was glad that I worked for a liberal organisation that encouraged the use of social media. We were all trained in how to use social media and encouraged to use Twitter and Blogger and the use of these programs has greatly enriched communication between librarians and others at a local and national level. A blogger account is a good way to record something you have learned and may want to remind yourself of later. I suspect that by training our employees to use Blogger and Twitter we are a fairly flagship enterprise in this area and that most people working for a less enlightened employer would prefer to err on the side of caution if they thought they might get into trouble for being frank.

There are questions of whether a work related blog is a public or personal property. Many institutions have institutional blogs and staff update it in work time, and if the voice of your blog represents the voice of your institution then careful proof-reading and consideration are called for more than ever.

Although it deals with professional issues, I was advised by my line manager that my blog is a personal space and that I could "write what I want" there, although she suggested that I only refer to people by name if I have their express permission to mention them. Thinking about it, people on Twitter are always referring to other twitterers and I'm sure they don't ask their permission first (but usually you use their Twitter name which might be anonymised).  However, I agree, discernment and courtesy are needed here.

There are issues of use of time.  My work colleagues and I  would feel uncomfortable spending time on Blogger during working hours: although I have twitter open sometimes, I write my blog during lunchtime or at home or on my days off (I only work three days a week)

The TUC have written some guidelines on blogging at work. These cover

• What are the rules on blogging about work?  more...
• Can I avoid getting the sack for blogging about work?  more...
• Do any employers encourage blogging? Why?  more...
• If I am sacked for blogging, what are my rights?  more..

According to the TUC:

• "The first rule is not to blog while at work, and obviously not on your employer's time." 
• "The second rule is to remember that absolutely anyone can read your blog."
• "The main concerns for employers about blogs are the risk of being legally liable for comments made by their staff, the release of confidential information, damage to their reputation, and problems with defamation and harrassment."
• "The careful blogger with no clear agreement with an employer should, at a very minimum, make sure that anything connected with work, however tangential, is put in the vaguest possible terms to ensure that people, places and organisations are not identified. That means never naming your organisation or your colleagues and never giving away enough information, such as about places, or posting images that could allow your employer or your workmates to be identified. "

(Maybe they've been watching Fight Club?)

These rules are a little at odds, I think, with practice in our organisation. The TUC suggest that the only way to avoid that with particularly strict employers is by making your blog completely anonymous, which can only safely be done by eliminating every possible identifying detail and using a service such as invisiblog.com, which allows no access to a blogger's name.

They point out:

 "Some forward-looking employers have recognised the PR potential of employee blogging. The fresh, personal style of a blog provides the kind of genuine intimacy that marketing and PR departments spend millions trying to create."

I don't think my workplace has a clear policy on how to blog or tweet. Usually policies are only written when someone breaks what might have been a rule had any rule existed. Trusting people's judgement is much better.

I was recently thinking of fostering children, and the application pack asked: "What are the rules in your household?" I thought hard to how my husband and myself had successfully brought up three children over the space of twenty five years and I realised, in my house we have only ever had two rules: firstly, there was my handwritten sign: "please take your shoes off when you go upstairs" - that rule lasted for about two years after we had a new carpet. The second rule:, which still applies as far as I know, firmly asserts: "No bouncing on the bed with your shoes on."

The laws of our most venerable, (and anonymous of course) parent library are  written on the cloakroom wall and the only one that anyone ever remembers is: "No person shall walk barefoot in the library."

ps I am writing this from home whilst off work sick if anyone is curious.