Some businesses are not blogging fans

Blogging is starting to get noticed in the work place. For some, this is a good thing. For others, blogging leads to time wasting by employees and, worse yet, it leads to leaking sensitive information.

"Web logs are a terrific tool for companies to communicate," said Rebecca Blood, author of "The Weblog Handbook." But, she added, "people have a funny way of thinking about Weblogs. They think they should divulge everything. And that can cause problems."

Here lies the problem, according to an article originally appearing in the Chicago Tribune, but more easily found at the Billings Gazette. Are blogs nothing more than the equivalent of a daily diary containing personal and sensitive information? I guess that could be the case, but I seriously doubt that any business person who has found the value in blogging will look at it that way. There is no more danger in leaking sensitive company information in a blog then there is leaking information at a cocktail party. And consider this: you can edit a blog. You can't edit what you said last night after four martinis.

Christopher Wolf, a partner at the Washington, D.C., law firm Proskauer Rose, advises clients not to start blogs because of the perils: "People are just more casual in the stuff they put on the Internet. Recording one's thoughts can lead to problems for both the employer and the employee because it becomes readily available for all to see."

Blogs are a productivity and communication tool. I think perhaps Mr. Wolf just doesn't get it.