About a year and a half ago, I posted this. One of my friends has been fired from her job for writing a blog post at work. She had mentioned that an order she was working on was being difficult. Someone had reported it and she lost her job. In the last year work related blogs have actually become really popular, especially in the UK.
Cops, Ambulance Drivers, Medical Practicers, Firefighters, and Dispatchers for 911 calls have provided alot of really interesting stories for people to follow along with just from what they do every day. These people see the best, worst and the weirdest aspects of humanity every day, and blogs allowed other people to get an idea of what various careers are really like minus all the propoganda.
But it seems that my friend is not the only one to be punished for her blog. World Weary Detective, a blog for a UK cop, Geek Nurse, a New Zealand Trauma Nurse, are just 2 examples of professional bloggers that have been shut down in the last month. Employers are getting to the point that blogging of any kind, personal or professional, is now being put into hiring contracts as expressly forbidden and a valid reason for dismissal. Methods such as this have been used to try and protect themselves and those they blog about, but it seems to make no real difference.
I can understand the reasons an employer might be worried, especially as a slip up on a blog in some of these careers can have serious legal reprecussions, but these people are careful. They change names and dates and locations and even the sexes of the people they talk about. They don't identify themselves beyond a general description and a career, and they never give out specifics. It's not like they've gone online and printed up the details of their days, just a few anecdotes. These people have some of the most stressful jobs there are and employers have just shut down another way for them to blow off some steam and hopefully not go off the deep end.
The world seems to be getting fairly constrictive these days. They say "be your own person" and "have an opinion", but god forbid you actually tell people what that opinion is or whats going on in your life.
In my friends words: "Free speech is not as free as it used to be."
Meru at 4:59 PM
