Blogging and Professionalism

A recent episode involving a popular designer/teacher/blogger and a yarn store owner (with a blog) made me start to think about blogging and professionalism. I've read some about this lately (the anonymous big law firm associate who outed herself only after she got a book deal comes to mind). That lawyer's blog, though, is different from the subject I'm addressing here. There is a difference between a professional venting about a situation at work on an "anonymous" personal blog (which can still be unacceptable in a number of circumstances) and a professional using a blog for mixed personal and work-related purposes venting about the same kind of situation. I'm discussing the latter here.

I'm a late-comer to the blog phenomenon, but I read blogs for awhile before beginning my own, and I still read a number of them daily. Some are purely personal, generally knitting-related with some mentions of family and daily life. Others mix professional and personal lives--I include the knitbloggers with books or other knitting-related internet businesses in this one (the Yarn Harlot, Mason Dixon Knitting, the Knitty blog, Wendyknits, etc.).

These bloggers have special challenges, I think. Each chooses to post a certain amount of personal information on their blogs, yet those blogs are also used for business purposes (promoting books and designs, listing events, selling patterns, etc.). What do you do, then, when personal and business collide? For example, what do you do if you have a problem with your editor or publisher? A yarn store owner cancels your appearance at the last minute, without any warning? Or, alternatively, you have major life issues that could affect your work?

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I wrote the above last week and let it marinate for awhile before continuing. I find this a really compelling and thought-provoking topic, even if others are ready to dismiss it as a blogger's "right" to say what she/he pleases. I won't get into the legal existence or non-existence of freedom of speech on the Internet (the Google China site is a good example of the lack of free speech), and I'll assume for purposes of the argument that bloggers do have the right to say whatever they want.

Because a person has the ability and "right" to make a statement does not mean that the statement is wise. For example, suppose your boss is a complete idiot who sends you off on mundane, useless tasks that you despise. Nevertheless (and leaving out all possibility of libel/slander), you would probably not take out an ad in the local newspaper or trade journal to describe what a total wanker your boss is and how he has caused your high blood pressure. It would not be a wise thing to do, assuming you wanted to keep this job or work in the same field or location.

That is the crux of the blog problem--mixing professional and personal information on a blog requires the blogger to make determinations about what is appropriate or not appropriate, given the blogger's readership and profession. Maybe it helps to think about two kinds of readers for an average "mixed" blog. In the knitting world, there are (1) potential customers (which could include yarn store owners, book or pattern buyers, and/or advertisters) who read your blog and (2) casual readers (which could include non-knitting friends or family members). To some degree, your blog is advertising to the first class of readers--new products, appearances, etc. While blogging about your latest health issue or a bad experience you had at a yarn store or with a customer may help you vent your frustration and be great entertainment for casual readers, that information may turn off potential customers. High drama is fun but not professional.

People disagree about what constitutes too much information in the professional world every day, and I'm not saying that blogs should be sanitized to exclude all non-knitting content. I think that would harm some of the bloggers I listed above. However, there has to be some consideration taken by a "professional" blogger as to what information is appropriate or inappropriate under the circumstances. Would you want a potential customer to read about a terrible experience you had with a customer (in which you disparage the customer, fair or not)? If you were in that potential customer's shoes, what would you think? These bloggers are, in many ways, selling their personalities as much as their wares.

Next time, I'll be back with something more interesting!