Best Corporate Blogging Practices

The three corporate blogging policies I reviewed are those of Sun Microsystems, IBM, and Yahoo.

Sun Microsystems' Blogging Policy:
http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/media/blogs/policy.html

IBM's Blogging Policy:
http://www-03.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/jasnell?entry=blogging_ibm

Yahoo's Blogging Policy (PDF):
http://jeremy.zawodny.com/yahoo/yahoo-blog-guidelines.pdf

All of these companies are well-known technology corporations, and are on the forefront of new communications technologies, so they are most likely aware of the dangers of the powerful communications medium of the Internet. This is, naturally, reflected in the content of their blogging policies.

For example, Sun's blogging policy states a number of things. Management approval is not required for blogs posted by Sun employees, nor is it prohibited to talk about happenings at work. It is, however, prohibited to "publish the recipe to one of our secret sauces". This is found in IBM's and Yahoo's policies as well. It is also common to all policies that information should be well-presented, and provided in a professional manner, with proper use of spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Present in all policies is a call to use one's common sense in deciding what information should be made public, available for the whole world to see. I think this is the single most important element of either a blogger's code of ethics, or a company's blogging policy.

I find that Sun's blogging policies interest me the most. It is unique that Sun encourages their employees to create interesting posts, which is logical, as nobody will have an interest in reading a dull, uninteresting blog. Furthermore, Sun encourages their employees to write only on subjects they know, lest they be corrected (and potentially embarrassed) by an expert on a particular subject. Employees are representatives of a company, and if an employee makes amateurish comments on a particular technological project, a professional correction could have undesired results for the company.

With the information I gathered, I compiled a list of some of the best blogging practices that I found, in my opinion:

1. Do not let blogging interfere with your work.

2. Do not reveal company secrets. Check with management if you feel information may be sensitive.

3. Write only on subjects you are knowledgeable about.

4. Present your information in a professional, quality manner.

5. State, in a disclaimer, that you speak for yourself, not necessarily the company.

6. Ensure that your blog is interesting to read. Nobody will read what you have to say if it's uninteresting.

7. Maintain a means of feedback, both public and private.

8. Use common sense.