Blogging in the workplace

Blogs are in the public sphere, they are intended for people to read, essentially the reason people blog is to say whatever is on their mind in a forum that anyone can access. The fact that anyone can access the blog is not always a positive aspect of blogging though, especially if what is on your mind is not a positive thing about an individual or your workplace. “Blogging platforms have become forums for employees to either individually or collectively vent frustrations at corporate culture initiatives” (Richards and Kosmala 2013 pg. 67). These blog posts are out in the open, all someone has to do is Google your name to find your blog. Imagine a potential employer checking the internet for some background information on you and find blog posts of you slagging off your workplace, it wouldn’t look all that flash going in for an interview, if you get one that is. 

Ellis and Richards (2009) (cited in Richards and Kosmala 2013 pg. 69) “found employees to be attracted to blogging about work because these online forums offers a form of voice other than that provided by trade unions.” In a place in which people can vent about their work frustrations, employees can also gain support from others. Ellis and Richards (2009) (cited in Richards and Kosmala 2013 pg. 69) “found evidence of support networks being formed between work bloggers and the use of such forums to reflect on their work experiences over time.” 

                                              source: http://www.poormojo.org/hate/I%20hate%20my%20job.jpg

There is a website that goes by the name of workrant.com in which it’s tagline is, “Stressed at work, thinking ‘I hate my job’, ‘I hate my boss,’ or ‘I hate my co-workers,’ You need a work rant! Rant away all your work rage, anonymously, and ease the frustration.” (Workrant.com.) A word of warning, there is some explicit language on this website but quite a good read. It just highlights how people use blogs and forums to express their frustration at their workplace. It is obviously a big issue that many people deal with.



Reference:
Richards, J., and Kosmala, K., 2013 ‘In the end, you can only slag people off for so long’: employee cynicism through work blogging’, New Technology, Work and Employment, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 68 – 77.

www.workrant.com