Nothing Personal; This Is Business
Jerry Grasso is the director of corporate communications here at EarthLink. He is also a husband and father of two including a son with autism. I mention this as his blog is literally his diary about being a husband and father of two including a son with autism.
Jerry and I started our respective blogs at roughly the same time, but the similarities end there. His is personal; mine is professional. His is a journal. Mine reads like a column. His is therapeutic and plays to the heart. Mine is for professional growth and works the brain. His serves as a forum for parents of autistic children. Mine is meant as a platform to spark debate among PR practitioners.
Ours are two blogs among millions with very different audiences, very different purposes, but very much extensions of ourselves that we nurture and protect.
Six months ago we were blogging newbies; now we are veterans with some war stories to tell.
When we are not advancing the cause of EarthLink or getting on with our lives, we blog or talk about blogging. We laugh at how far we have come, contemplate how far we want to go. We wonder if we should extend our blogs by hosting our own sites, podcasting and posting interviews.
On occasion, conversations turn personal – as in how personal should blogs be and how much personal information should be revealed. We both recognize that our blogs are for very different audiences, but I concede my personal blog reveals very little about my personal life.
It makes me think of that classic line from one of the Godfather movies – “It’s nothing personal; this is business.” Well when it comes to blogging and social media, the personal is part of business.
In fact, some of the strongest blogs are personal. They avoid corporate speak, divulge private information and engage readers in an informal conversation. Blogs like the workplace itself reflect the more casual nature of the professional environment -- from the clothes we wear in the office to the way we collaborate with colleagues.
If the personal is the goal, is there a limit to what you should post – especially now that employers are reviewing personal blogs before making hiring decisions? And for employees whose blogs discuss work related and non-work related matters, where do you draw the line between work life and your private life? What is appropriate? Is that standard changing? Are you doing a disservice by avoiding one and emphasizing another?
Social media is redefining the rules of public and private, personal and professional. I have not reached any conclusions in part because the playbook for blogs continues to change . I think that best we can do is rely on our instincts to determine how much disclosure is appropriate.
Let me get back you.
