Earthling

Note: The below is an archived entry from Earthling, formerly EarthLink's official blog. The blog itself has been decommissioned and is no longer updated, and comments are trackbacks are no longer accepted.

This started as a response to comments on this blog entry and then turned into a full-on entry of its own.

Based on the comments on Travis' blog, the unmasking was a red herring and the blogger's identity is still unknown.

I think anonymous blogging can be as divisive to a company's culture as it can be a force for positive change. When there's no accountability for what's being said and no one knows whether or not the person they're talking to will be writing up their conversation as part of a larger crusade about the company, I think that can set collaboration and conversation back a few steps rather than advance it. I think blogging under a real identity creates a possible position of advocacy, but it's almost impossible to be a true advocate if no one knows who you are. I feel the same way about anonymous blogging within a circle of friends or a social or interest group.

Even if your agenda is noble, it's still an agenda, and you can't simultaneously be inside a company's culture and outside of it. The privileged state of knowing how a company works and having insider opinions about how to fix what may be broken brings with it a responsibility to respect the strategy and rules of the company's ownership and leadership. I understand that if the company you work for doesn't want you to blog and you want to, one of your only options is to be anonymous. But in that case I agree with Scoble that if your passion is for blogging you should find a company that will support you in that endeavor. It's probably something that you can settle ahead of time in the negotiations stage. Unless of course you've been working for a company long enough that you pre-date blogging as a 'thing'.

As for the Masked Blogger, despite my concerns I wish him well. In an entry today he wrote:

"Working for Apple is only part of my "identity". Let me be very clear. I'm not going to divulge any Apple secrets or dirty laundry. I have a vested interest in Apple's success and certainly won't be leaving my ethics at the door as I enter the conversation."

I admire his stated approach and aspirations, but I think It could be trickier than all that -- especially when the company he works for does not necessarily want him blogging. What, then, is the definition of dirty laundry that's consistent between company and blogger? And how do you determine that in good faith without being able to have conversations with other employees about it? I agree with Shel when he says that the anonymity introduces complications into the blogger's messages that wouldn't be there if he identified himself.