CNET has a story about Mark Jen, a former employee of Google, who is apparently no longer working for the company after recent controversial comments he made in his personal blog.
This of course isn’t the first time someone has found themselves unemployed because of a web journal:
- Ellen Simonetti was fired from Delta Air Lines after posting photos of herself and fellow employees in their Delta uniforms.
- Michael Hanscom lost his Microsoft contractor position after posting photos of Apple Mac G5 computers arriving for use at the Microsoft.
- Joyce Park was a web developer for Friendster up until she posted about the company three times in her “Troutgirl” blog.
- Jessica Cutler was fired by Senator Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) for her blog Washingtonienn.
Stories like those above serve as a reminder for the growing blogging community to be aware that they aren’t as anonymous as they might sometimes believe.
The advantage you to get in the ability to put your writing in front of a large number of people comes with the downside of those words being potentially used against you by those who disagree with what you’re saying and have the ability to act on it.