The personal blog has become a way for many people to reflect on life, art, politics, religion, and any number of other imaginable topics – even if the blogger is the only one reading it. It’s not surprising then that personal bloggers will, from time to time, turn their attention to their day jobs; after all, for many people, work is the place where they spend most of their time.

Most employers, if they are aware of their employees’ blogging habits at all, tend to look the other way, as long as common courtesy and a certain amount of employer anonymity are respected. Employers can afford to do this because few personal blogs find fame and a mainstream audience. A recent libel lawsuit, however, filed against Cisco Systems over one of its employees’ personal blogs, may stir companies to consider how much they should regulate this otherwise personal activity.

Employers should consider whether implementing a reasonable personal blogging policy is right for their company. If implemented, the policy should, at a minimum, prohibit blogging during work hours and on company equipment, require employees to maintain confidentiality of the company’s proprietary information, prohibit bloggers from linking to the company’s website or speaking on behalf of the company, require bloggers to respect the privacy of other employees, and, finally, prohibit blogs from becoming a forum for raising internal complaints.

Most importantly, as with all company policies, the policy must be enforced uniformly so that all employees, including executives, are subject to it.

–Matt