Should Employees be Trusted?

    This week in Social Media class we are reading portions of The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott. Scott presents an interesting debate in Chapter 5.  He discusses whether or not employers should allow their employees to blog.  Interestingly enough the same debate happened with email, this was before my years.  I do however agree with the strong comparisons  between these two mediums.  I have a feeling that just as not allowing employees to send emails seems silly now, not allowing employees to blog will seem silly later.  Scott brings up a great point that we have to look at the people communicating and not the technology.


 Building on this idea, if industry leaders in the fields of Marketing and PR are not allowed to blog, how are they expected to be an expert on the matter? What if these same executives were still not able to use email.  Imagine how far they would need to come to catch up with the rest of the world.  Until I began writing this blog, it was difficult for me to fully understand blogging ( I still have a lot to learn). Also, blogging is a way of sparking debate, and spreading knowledge.  Why would companies want to stifle this creative ground? Those participating in blogging communities can easily monitor what is being said.

   While I think employees should be allowed to blog. I also understand the possible repercussions corporations. So, as much as it is a right to be able to blog, it is a company's right to monitor employee posts and comments.  Blogs could definitely be abused and grounds for firing.  This should be made clear in orientations and employee handbooks.  Those that want to keep their job and are respectful should not have any issues.  Besides, it is much more difficult to convince people to stop doing something entirely than enact lose guidelines.

 These are a few of my opinions...What do you think?

• Should employees be allowed to Blog? 
• If so does it need to be in their free time, or can it take place at work
• Should their be guidelines? How strict?
• Does it depend on the type of company (public, private, non-profit)?