However, I thing employers should set guidelines for their employees to follow, if they wish start or already have a blog, rather than blindly demanding them to stop blogging or never blog, even about topics totally unrelated to the company’s field of operations and unlikely to bring them anywhere near to disclosing proprietary information or tarnishing the company’s reputation. If a ban to blogging should spread in the corporate world, who would be left blogging?

Well at least they can’t just lock you up in a secret prison and torture you without due process or access to counsel.

Oh wait…

Never mind.

BTW, register, vote.

I heard that a lot from bloggers, followed by “I should have worried more.” Many think they don’t have to worry, but a company can change their policy at any time. As the CNN Producer found out, CNN has hired staff now whose sole job is to monitor the web for what their employees are doing and saying, as well as investigating future employees.

Many companies are opening the door to blogs, but others are tightening their control over whether or not their employees can blog.

Mike Goad: I talked to a “retired” friend recently who had started a blog after leaving their 30 year job. A month ago, he was approached by a company to be a consultant, based on his 30 year reputation. A few days ago, he called me upset that they were reconsidering hiring him because they found out about his blog. Since his blog is about his work expertise, though he covers personal stuff, too, I told him to tell them that the blog is his PR and marketing tool, his online resume, and that he should recommend that they start a blog for their own business communications and networking tool. He managed to turn it around and they looked at him with even more respect, but this story could have gone in another direction easily. Luckily, he had enough professional content to justify his story.

Even being retired, there are some things I can’t — and won’t — write about because of proprietary restrictions and, in some instances, federal law. It would be the wrong thing to do.