Buzz Marketing with Blogs: Update: Technorati Blog Policy Clarified

Update: Technorati Blog Policy Clarified

Niall Kennedy (see earlier post) has now completely removed his original post, as well as the poster that he had posted on Flickr, and posted an explanation of the chronology and the current Technorati blog policy. He says he feels he made a mistake and has apologized to all companies whose logos he used.

Says Kennedy:

I have always operated under the assumption that until I reach executive status at any company I work for I remain an individual voice and do not represent the organization. Just as weblogs and corporate transparency changed the world we love to interact with daily, it has also changed the way we see corporations. We establish relationships with companies through their engaged employees for better or for worse. The voice and actions of individuals become associated with the companies and organizations of their employ. The past day has been a huge wake-up call. I see now that the voice of a company is not limited to top level executives, vice-presidents, and public relations officers.

This is simply not true. Yes, I base my opinion of a company based on each employee I meet—but that’s when they’re acting in their role as an employee. What a person chooses to do on his or her personal time, is just that—their choice. I don’t hold Ford Motor Company accountable for the loud shouting of its car salesman behind me at the hockey game, nor do I think that Ford as a company thinks that the referee is blind, or Ford firmly believes the visiting team are a bunch of sissies.

A company is crossing a line if it thinks that an employee is compelled to look at the consequences to it of everything that employee does in his or her personal time.

For personal blogs, it comes down to a simple test: Would a reasonable person think that any post is the official company line of blogger’s employer? And of course, for a personal blog full of anecdotes about cheese sandwiches and cool gadgets like Kennedy’s, the answer is NO, even if it’s not specifically disclaimed—which in this case, it was. If Kennedy wanted to post something AS A TECHNORATI EMPLOYEE on his blog, he could say something as simple as “I’m posting this for my work.”

Clearly, I’m all for companies blogging, and for having clear and possibly strict policies about what employees say on those blogs. Companies should not, however, be unnecessarily and illegitimately restrictive of what their employees can blog on their free time. Niall says that Technorati’s policy is not of prior review in all cases. He writes:

It is recommended that Technorati employees seek the opinion of a coworker if they are unsure of how a post might be interpreted by others, to lend a fresh pair of eyes and an experienced mind to your intended message.

Sorry, Technorati, that position is still too vague, and too intrusive. I mean heck, I’m unsure how most of my posts will be interpreted by others. Technorati’s response should have been:

That employee’s personal blog does not does not reflect the opinion of Technorati, but of course, we are glad that our employees are entitled to think and express themselves freely on the Internet, and we encourage others to do the same, starting blogs if necessary and using Technorati to keep on top of the conversation.

Posted by Travis Smith on 03/08 at 03:01 AM • Blogging News

Comments

Agree 100%. This whole situation seems too stupid to be true. It feels contrived. Technorati’s reaction has exacerbated the situation. Had they left the situation alone, Niall’s post would likely have disappeared into the archives, rarely to be seen again. Now, we seem to have a situation. But worse is that the situation could have been handled on Niall’s blog. A friendly post asking to remove the offensive item may have been a better approach.

Posted by Randy Charles Morin on 03/08/05 at 08:01 AM