• by September 2, 2004

Earlier this week, a Web developer who works for Friendster got fired for mentioning Friendster in her blog, Troutgirl. Joyce Park tells CNET that she'd only mentioned the social networking site in three postings to her blog. All three references included information already in the public domain.

In a voicemail message, a Friendster spokeswoman told the Online Minute that the company's policy is not to comment on employee matters.

But with so much blogging going on these days, I wonder: Can a company fire an employee for blogging? Do companies routinely go out into the blogosphere and read their employees' blogs?

Obviously, if an employee is riffing on company secrets and dangling bits of intelligence, and other proprietary data, there's plenty of ammunition for an employer to take disciplinary action. But if the blogger is merely offering harmless acerbic observations and humorous rants, then isn't it a fine line? Is it not a matter of free speech? Of course, bloggers can shoot themselves in the foot if they choose to go over the top.

Microsoft fired a contract worker nearly a year ago for writing about work on his blog. He'd snapped a photo of new Apple G5 computers he spotted on a loading dock on the Microsoft campus. He posted it to his blog with the headline: "It looks like somebody in Microsoft land is getting some new toys."

Personally, I believe that an individual's blog ought to have no impact on their job. But there are so many gray areas. Are we getting to the point where employers will issue suggested guidelines on personal blogs? Does anyone care?

Park's termination from Friendster may have negative consequences for the company. After all, Friendster and companies like it are built online and thrive on word-of-mouth buzz among their members.