Corporate Blogging Policies

A recent story about how Cisco has gotten in to hot water over a high
profile blog maintained by one of its intellectual property advisors
has prompted many companies to consider their policy in regard to
corporate blogging. The blog, which is now somewhat locked-down,
is called Patent Toll Tracker, and was kept by Rick Frenkel to
chronicle issues related to patent litigation. Apparently, several
patent lawyers involved in a case against Cisco have filed a libel case
against them after Frenkel revealed his identity and affiliation with
the company.

Cisco has released a statement
affirming that they will be retaining Frenkel though re-thinking their
corporate policy. One particular quote has been making its way across
the net already:

If you comment on any aspect of the
companys business or any policy issue the company is involved in where
you have responsibility for Ciscos engagement, you must clearly
identify yourself as a Cisco employee in your postings or blog site(s)
and include a disclaimer that the views are your own and not those of
Cisco.

Seems pretty common-sense to me… After all, its
just the right thing to do. I mentioned this idea toward the end of a
previous post I wrote about using blogging to build your online reputation. Corporate blogging is an opportunity to connect with potential and existing customers in a positive way, even if to address negative feedback. It is not
a good method to attack competition, react against upset customers, or
act subversively. Thats the thing about the internet- the truth will
come out, and if youve got something to hide, it wont be pretty.

Update: 03/28/2008, Regarding the truth coming out on the net, and it not being pretty, check this out.