InformIT’s When Is a Blog Too Personal, discusses how much personal information to reveal. Even before blogs became a word in the dictionary, I tried to remember to ask, “Do I want a future client or employer to know this?”
Nowadays, some businesses search the web when considering a candidate for a job. I’m thankful I had the hindsight to avoid getting too personal when I started my blog in June 2000.
When I worked for a large corporation, I met with an IT security manager who wanted to talk about IT security because I do a newsletter on the topic. He said that he was impressed how I separated business from personal in my blog. He couldn’t even find a mention of our company’s name — so it took him a while to confirm I worked for the company (found me through company’s intranet).
I take care not to mention my children’s names even when I talk about them. A blog helps current and potential customers get to know you and the business you represent – I believe tossing a personal note here and there is A-OK as long as it’s not along the lines of “I had too much to drink last night” (which I didn’t).
Just think, “A future employer could read this” when you blog and you should be fine.
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