Feb 14 2009
Common Sense: This just in… WATCH WHAT YOU WRITE!
Let’s apply a little common sense to our blogposts!
- Image via Wikipedia
I am sure I am preaching to the choir but… let me make this clear. You really have to be careful what you write! It can get you in big trouble and could possibly ruin your career. On my recruiting trip I found this article in the February 9 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle with this lead:
(02-08) 17:04 PST –
The Web 2.0 movement, which ushered in an interactive Internet, sought to put power in the hands of the people by tapping the so-called wisdom of the crowds to change the world – and to keep such a digital democracy in check.
This is all pretty heavy handed languague for some common sense if you ask me. Doug Johnson has written about this, I have have even tip-toed down this path as well. The fact is that our professional reputations and now our POCKETBOOKS are on the line when we decide to take on a individual or an organization. Libel, as defined means:
An untruthful statement about a person, published in writing or through broadcast media, that injures the person’s reputation or standing in the community. Because libel is a tort (a civil wrong), the injured person can bring a lawsuit against the person who made the false statement. Libel is a form of defamation , as is slander (an untruthful statement that is spoken, but not published in writing or broadcast through the media). Thank you Nolo.com
The Cronicle article notes:
Just last week, Juicy Campus – a Web site that was banned from some colleges for its postings of vicious anonymous gossip – abruptly shut down, its traffic redirected to a site called College Anonymous Confession Board, whose owner said he hosts “a higher level of discourse.”
One has to wonder what will be the result of these measures on those websites out there who slander international schools. I won’t name any names, but those of us who wander the circuit know what and whom I am speaking about. All these so-called professionals, cloaked behind avatars, and citizen’s band radio-like handles slamming schools, administrators and their colleagues. How long will it be before these websites are taken to court or asked to edit and review the content of their own site which was posted “anonymously”. The definition of “anonymous” in the Web 2.0 world also probably needs to be defined. I am pretty sure just about anybody could be tracked down with the right resources. Kinda makes you think doesn’t it?
The key concept here: Stick to the facts. Just the facts. The words of Jack Webb in Dragnet need to ring in your ears. “Just the facts ma’am. Only the facts”. And then you need to be careful whose facts you are using.
- Image via Wikipedia
Perhaps Thumper’s words should really stick here…. “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”
Related articles by Zemanta
- JuicyCampus Dries Up (techcrunch.com)
- Why Wikipedia’s Policy to Blacklist Blogs is Outdated and Wrong (readwriteweb.com)
- Does a Negative Online Review Constitute Libel? (inquisitr.com)
- The Cloak Of Invisibility (andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com)
- How To Use Your Web Influence Wisely (confidentwriting.com)
Hi Andrew,
Good post. My original blog entry on the subject is here: http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2007/1/26/blogging-and-a-little-common-sense.html (This was later turned into a column for Leading & Learning.)
Hope your recruiting efforts have been successful.
Doug
Thanks Doug! I have linked the article/post in the posting now. I appreciate you reading my blog.
All I can say is thank goodness for aggregators (in my case netvibes) since your blog is blocked in China I continue to battle finding archived information unless I do a little workaround!
AT
[...] 1. Remember: What you write and create is essentially your professional persona that will follow you for years. Use the tool wisely. As I said in my last post on Sentiments on Common Sense, “You really do have to be careful what you write!” [...]