Over the years, as blogging has grown from fad to trend, I’ve traveled the world talking to other bloggers, many sharing stories of how they were confronted with new job contracts, agreements, and policies that state: Thou shall not blog.
My first response is always, “Why not?” Oh, I get an earful. It ranges from business practices to government limitations, and everything in between.
Here are some of the reasons why many people can’t blog.
Violation of Non-Disclosure
Let’s face it. We’re human. We make mistakes. We go forth with the best intentions and screw up. Often without thought. Knowing this, many businesses won’t risk the slip you may make as you free-wheel your thoughts publicly and disclose some of their proprietary information. Fear of disclosure is a huge issue for companies, a big incentive to bring out the papers for signature, banning blogging.
And there can be big money in such disclosures, too, an incentive for those to blog trade secrets.
[Read more…]