Blogs - The Boss Is Watching...

In a recent article, the New Scientist magazine explored what is happening today in IT and what expectation workers and job applicants have when it comes to privacy.

Article: The Boss is Watching your Every Click...

In reading the article, I was thinking of how the blog-o-sphere has exploded in the wake of the Gallaudet protests. People who normally have never written a single word online are now posting daily updates.

But in particular, I'm thinking of people like Mike McConnell, Elisa Abenchuchan, and perhaps the most notorious deaf blogger (hell, he even says it himself!), Ricky Taylor. It's easy to look at what's going on today and place the blog postings in their proper context but 2, 5, or 10 years down the road?

Many of the blog entries I read today try to be straightforward and civil expressions of opinion and/or fact. Unfortunately, a number of them are also quite uncivil and/or borderline slanderous.

I know Ridor from Gallaudet and we've butted heads before but I'm glad to see him online. I've always believed that more speech is better than the alternative.

(long story short: I was trying to help a very drunk friend of mine get back to his room when he peed all over Ridor's door. Ridor and I talked about this a few months ago and *I think* we had a laugh over it. I'll also admit that during the frequent flame wars on the old VAX NOTES system, I was one of those people who referred to him as "Twinkie Toes". Given my immaturity back then and his recent weight loss, I hope he forgives me)

I have to honestly wonder though: since bloggers are basically puts themselves "out there" online, are they harming their chances for future employment? Are future bosses going to look them up and go, "this is good stuff but s/he ain't workin' here!"

Or are they going to take the Google path and say, "This person can write and communicate effectively. They would be a valuable addition to this office."

More interestingly, will our deaf bloggers find restrictions on what they can and cannot publish? I'd be interested in seeing how some deaf / HoH workplaces address this issue.

-N