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15 Comments to “Bloggy Question 85: Big Brother Just Bought Your Company!”

1. July 6th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
   SpaceAgeSage said

   I would start an editorial campaign in the media comparing such control to China and other repressive countries and then work on a version of the Boston Tea Party for bloggers among employees.

2. July 6th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
   Stropp said

   If my blog was unrelated to the companys core business, and I couldn’t be connected to the business, I would keep on blogging. The reason: I’m not a slave. The company pays me to do a job for a certain number of hours a day and what I do in my own time is not theirs to dictate. Should I stop watching certain news channels, reading certain books, or visiting certain websites if they tell me to as well?

   While I am (should) also be required to uphold the business image, if my blog cannot be connected to their business, they have no say in it. And really, as I said before, slavery has been abolished in most of the world for quite some time now. Employers are not the masters of our lives.

   Of course, this would not stop them from sacking me if they found out (in the US, in Australia we have unfair dismissal laws to protect workers) so I would be prepared for the possibility. It’s always wise to be prepared with some savings, network, and an up-to-date resume anyway.

3. July 6th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
   ME Liz Strauss said

   Ah Sage,
   I wondered whether anyone would be a rebel! Glad to see you’re not standing still for it.

4. July 6th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
   ME Liz Strauss said

   Hi Stropp!
   I’m wondering how long I would last anyway with a “regime” that was so totally disconnected from my core values. I’d figure I’d better start looking.

   Keep on blogging.

5. July 6th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
   kristarella said

   I would not stop blogging under those circumstances, but I wouldn’t want to go against company policy or have to do something I love in secret. I’m also not really good at doing jobs I hate. If they were truly entitled to make such a policy and enforce it, I would quit. Sounds like a job I wouldn’t really want to do anyway (I’ve been lucky enough so far not to have to work so that I wouldn’t starve or lose my home).

6. July 7th, 2008 at 3:25 am
   Rowan Manahan said

   I would say the company would have a very hard time defending the constitutionality of that rule - so whether you tried them in the local media or in a court, I couldn’t see them holding on to that stance. Plus if they tried to fire you at that stage, even in an at-will state, I would imagine it would cause them considerable problems.

   Loophole for the company? - Maybe if you were deriving income from the blog and they had some kind of exclusionary clause in their contract.

7. July 7th, 2008 at 6:51 am
   ME Liz Strauss said

   Hi Kristarella!
   In my family, we call that integrity. I think it’s probably why you’ve never had to worry about having a job.

8. July 7th, 2008 at 6:59 am
   ME Liz Strauss said

   Hi Rowan,
   Apparently in lawyer-think, any word you say can be held against them. I’m not certain that’s so. However, it’s the lack of trust that would probably draw the line for me. Whether I won the fight wouldn’t matter . . .

9. July 7th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
   Kathy said

   It would depend upon how much I loved my job and how close I was to the people with whom I work.

   If I was already feeling like the J-O-B was confining me like a tightly tied straight jacket, I guess that new policy would be the “grease” to get me out.

10. July 7th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
    Cath Lawson said

    Hi Liz - I would leave. There is no way I could work for a company that is trying to kill freedom of speech.

    And I would persuade other bloggers to help me stop the evil company from killing the Internet.

11. July 7th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
    John Hewitt said

    Truthfully, I would start looking for another job, but until then I would keep blogging. It usually takes time for acquired companies to adopt the policies of their purchaser, sometimes years. I would hurry up, but I would make them fire me before giving up on something I love.

12. July 8th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
    Glenda Watson Hyatt said

    That is another point for self-employment! No corporate policies to confine me or to silence the Left Thumb Blogger!

13. July 8th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Glenda!
    I find it hard to think of anyone being able to silence you!

14. July 8th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
    Glenda Watson Hyatt said

    I’ll take that as a compliment, I think!

15. August 10th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
    Bloggy Question 86: Google Is Coming! - Liz Strauss at Successful Blog - Thinking, writing, business ideas . . . You’re only a stranger once. said

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