Bloggers Beware

Whenever I notice that someone googled his way to my website, I have no idea whether this person was an avid blog fan, disgruntled classmate, or potential employer.  If the later class of readers is in fact searching for me on-line, this new readership base may explain my stack of dink letters.  It's this explaination or perhaps just my lack of merits. 

A recent article by Vielka Holness of Columbia University, published in the ABA Student Lawyer, reveals the startling dangers of potential employers finding personal blogs.  Holness rights, "Bloggers frequently reveal a great deal of information about themselves an others.  They world tehy create can be very personal, and they often forget to exercise prudent self-censorship.  They may not consider the possibility that someone entering their name in a search enginge might find their blog."

One characteristic that employers look for in summer interns and full-time associates is an individual's sound judgment and ability to keep information confidential.  For hiring purposes or character assessments, you never want to provide self-incriminating information.  However, blogs are open to the public and easily assessible.  Or do they?

• Fortuantely there are enough something-"Jack Fan" clubs out there that employers have to be quite clever (12,700 sites). 
• "Yu-cheng Jack Fan" pulls up 2 sites that lists me when I served as board members of various organizations.
• "Y. Jack Fan" pulls up 7 sites including one link to my former blog entries on the Texas Wesleyan University site.
• "Jack Fan" + "Texas Wesleyan" pulls up 11 more sites ... but none to this blog.  But hey, I found another Jack Fan who was apparently the NYS Forensic League Congress Champion.  Go Jack-2.
• Alright, I have no idea how anyone finds my site through Google.  But they do somehow.

Holness advises, "don't risk derailing your goals with embarrassing blog entries about yourself or future clients, witnesses, and colleagues."  This certainly puts a damper on risque, indecent, and offensive stories.  Crud.  I hope that you'll enjoy some good, clean, and insightful postings from now on.  However, I will post limited edition off-color comments from time to time, this is available for a limited times only.

Source:  Vielka V. Holness, Blogs are helpful but be care as you post them, Student Lawyer, March 2005, at 16.

Comments

[Eponymous]

Lest we forget what happened to Judge Posner. The man writes too much. He will never see a SCOTUS nomination, though he is easily the man for the job.

[Nick]

First off, a great deal of the stuff that the average blogger puts on their site is not relevant to their potential employer anyhow. I mean, does their employer really need to know how, say, a concert went that they attended the weekend before applying for the job? Or any of the various and sundry family & friend issues that bloggers espouse on the net? None of it seems the business of a future boss, unless of course if it's illegal activity or outright grounds for not hiring someone and in that way directly relevant to their employment.

Otherwise, I really wouldn't mind if my employer saw my blog. So long as I maintain it off the clock, it is none of his/her concern.

[Ronnie]

From a practical standpoint, perhaps a pseudonymous blog would be prudent. Isn't this possible? Of course, you'd tell your friends about it, but potential employers, clients, etc. would not need to know.

[jack-2]

I'm that Jack-2 you mentioned, though I usually go by "S. Jack Fan"; I found your blog the exact same way you found mine - I googled myself. This is extremely amusing, to say the least.