C|NET is blowing this out of proportion, but they have an interesting article discussing known facts about the status and safety of blogging and the potential effects on your employment. Why do I say they're blowing this out of proportion? Why, because of a) the small number of people who've been threatened by their employer over their blogging, versus b) the huge number of people who are employeed and who blog.
FAQ: Blogging on the job (Published: March 8, 2005, 4:00 AM PST By Declan McCullagh and Alorie Gilbert; Staff Writer, CNET News.com)
Obviously a few people have recently been fired over blogging about their employer. Obviously this is a concern to anybody who is going to blog about their employer. Blogging is no different from any other writing, since blogging is just a presentation style. In any case, I've covered this territory in previous postings. Employers like to keep a cloak of secrecy around the company operations, which means they force the employees into agreements prohibiting disclosure of company operations, and then if the employee is caught disclosing them the employee is open to being fired. It doesn't matter whether the employee is blogging or anything else.
For example, I recently learned of this blog themacgenius, written by someone who claims to be an official Genius Bar employee at Apple's stores. His writing shows someone who has a low opinion of the people he's serving, and general frustration over the job. But it's the kind of thing which has gotten others fired in the past -- he, for example, refers to his customers as morons, etc. I think he's simply not suited for a service job, and pray that he discovers this soon. In any case, what he's written puts a poor light on the Apple stores and especially on the Genius Bar people, which ought to cause consternation on the part of Apple Store Management.