Following a wayward email incident, one of mine very nearly did. As my workplace posts tend to be fairly benign (e.g., microwave etiquette, computer server neuroses, TP issues), I’m not too worried about being dooced. I also happen to have a good working relationship with this boss. He lends me his books about WWII, and we exchange bicycle riding stories on a regular basis. That being said, I don’t necessarily want the guy who pays and promotes me to know about the details of my first kiss, that I need therapy for my junior high gym class square-dancing experience, or that I routinely assess for fake boobage. I’m quite relieved that I can, for the time being, continue to uphold my image as a mild-mannered accountant with an affinity for debits and credits.
May 13, 2008...4:35 am
Does Your Boss Read Your Blog?
Jump to Comments
31 Comments
May 13, 2008 at 6:03 am
My company develops a lot of, what I consider, useless software. One is a social network software, kinda like LinkIn. I generally do as little actual social networking as is required to get another job when my current one goes sour, so I’ve avoided this one of my company’s like the plague.
But then, on CNN today, there’s a big news story about it and how it’s supposed to be like the new “Virtual Water Cooler” that brings people together to share their lives, their dreams, blah blah blah.
But I’m like you…do I really want my boss, or even potential bosses, to know that my kids drive me to near insantiy, or that I have body image issues? I don’t think so. I mean, how am I supposed to convince him or her that I can juggle multiple projects, when trying to feed two kids stresses me out?
Why can’t we just leave work at work and let people enjoy their private lives…well…privately?
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
May 13, 2008 at 6:11 am
Well, I don’t know if it’s my boss, but someone in my office reads my blog.
Then again, we’re a really small office and dare I say, most of us share the same thoughts.
I try not to use specifics, going as far as “they” instead of “he” or “she” though my reader knows who I’m talking about.
I find that blogging about work helps me achieve normality; knowing I’m not the only one annoyed by people clipping their nails in the office.
A mystery reader? That is very intriguing.
May 13, 2008 at 6:20 am
My boss is a guy who makes rude jokes and drops the F-bomb on you if things don’t go according to plan. I would imagine most of VeggieMacabre would be a loss to him. He doesn’t have that type of sense of humor. Which is probably why it’s tough for me to be on a business trip with the guy for more than a day or two.
He still doesn’t get the “assphinctorsayswhat”. Falls for it every time.
If a guy can’t appreciate a good Trucker Carebear story, then he’s not somebody with whom I wish to travel.
May 13, 2008 at 8:01 am
It probably wouldn’t be the end of the world if my coworkers read my blog – but I’d just as soon they didn’t. There are some of my inner thoughts that I’d rather not share with them. (Otherwise I’d be out there blabbing with them about it instead of, you know, the couple of people on the internet.)
My boss probably wouldn’t reprimand me for it, but he probably wouldn’t like it, either.
Good point about the “blabbing with them about it instead”
May 13, 2008 at 8:32 am
No one knows. My boss doesn’t read ANYTHING that matters. I would know if someone in my office was reading this because they can’t keep anything to themselves, to include office relationships and frequency of bowel movements.
I feel safe…for now!
May your anonymity be preserved forever.
May 13, 2008 at 1:19 pm
My boss is pretty crude. But, he and my co-workers are under the false impression that I am sweet and innocent. I would not want them to EVER read my blog.
I don’t know what you’re talking about. Your blog exudes sweetness and innocence, starting with your NC-17 rating.
May 13, 2008 at 5:13 pm
I’m not so sure many people at my work can read so I don’t worry. He’s probably got you figured out anyway-he should know it’s always the quiet ones you have to worry about.
Oh shoot, I’d probably get more work done if I was quiet for once.
May 13, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Yeah, you can’t risk it getting out that you have a secret stash of chocolate in your desk. If he’d found out, you’d have to kill him.
Oh no! I forgot all about giving away the location of my secret stash. Time to rearrange!
May 13, 2008 at 7:40 pm
http://www.cafepress.com/topteedesigns.155232217
Neat site!
May 13, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Pretty sure the new people don’t, but lots of people from my old job read it. Hence, I always resist the heavy temptation to discuss work. It took me 6 years to post about the Cheesecake Stalker. Perhaps several years from now, I will be posting about the various crappage that occured at the last job. I sure like to avoid possible doocement, at all costs.
Maybe if the new people did, the boy using the girl bathroom situation would go away.
May 13, 2008 at 9:24 pm
And I so enjoy your attention to fake boobage.
Who doesn’t enjoy a good fake boobage post every now and then?
May 13, 2008 at 10:32 pm
I am my own boss. Im a Domestic Goddess, thus I make the rules ’round here. That being said, the hubby knows of the blog though he doesn’t read it. And there’s only one other real-time friend that knows/reads it.
And Dooce rocks my socks.
I could never exercise the kind of restraint that your husband does…I am way too much of a snoop!
May 14, 2008 at 7:31 am
Ooh, I know. I’m neurotic about my privacy–which is partially why I use code names for friends and family!
Your recent office post was priceless.
May 14, 2008 at 8:24 am
Thank goodness no…I have tried to be very careful by not posting the link to my blog on my myspace b/c there is an enemy I have at work who is on my friends list. Don’t ask why. I have mentioned her several times on my blog and I definitely don’t want her finding it.
If only MySpace friends could be subtly removed.
May 14, 2008 at 10:50 am
There are a few people from work that read my blog so I try to watch what I write. However, the day I leave I may just have to unleash some underlying rants. It may do the body good – however at that point I may not want to waste any more time on this place or on these people.
I’m just glad I didn’t have this blog with my prior place of employment. I would have been suppressing rants daily.
May 14, 2008 at 12:28 pm
This is an issue I struggle with everyday! I have sooooo much good work material I’d love to write about, but I live in fear of being busted (or maybe dooced) by “them.” Of course, “they” can barely figure out the Track Changes function in Word, so they probably aren’t spending too much time in the blogosphere. Anyway, your Mom’s Day pix is too cute!!! And, I want to share a compliment: my sister was reading your blog and told me how much she loves it. And she’s a tough one! I, of course, second the notion.
Ahhh, thanks for passing on the compliment!
May 14, 2008 at 12:52 pm
I sincerely hope my boss doesn’t read my blog…I’ve gone out of my way to never mention it and she is too old to happen upon it. She was front and center in it today, so keep your fingers crossed for me!
Enjoyed your blog!
jr
Fingers crossed!
May 14, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Not my boss but God help me if any of my friends ever saw what I wrote.
Then that must never happen
May 14, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Better than having a wet t-shirt video pop up on your office computer (that a buddy sent) when you’re away from your desk and you’re volume is turned up quite a bit. Barely survived that one years ago!
It was a bad combination of the Steves.
May 15, 2008 at 6:50 am
Hi Allison,
Doh…here’s my blog. We seem to have a similar view of the world.
http://julieross.wordpress.com
thanks for asking!
May 15, 2008 at 8:52 am
My Mom reads our blogs to see what’s up – and she also reads our friend’s blogs to see what we’re not saying. I’m not joking. As a result, I try not to link to my friend’s blogs ANYWHERE.
My office is a different matter. I’ve had to password protect rants because they were too easy for co-workers to figure out. Worse, I can discuss my work in general terms, but I work in a hospital, so if I get too specific, I could go to jail
If my daughter has a blog that I find out about someday, I would have to read it. Daily. I am that nosy.
May 15, 2008 at 10:25 am
Hmm…
Thank God my boss doesn’t read English! He reads French and Malagasy (my other two languages). I use them three on my wp blog though but he’s too busy away to read it anyway. Not that a net savvy either, but a great boss.
Oooo, you’ve got the language thing to your advantage. Good job!
May 15, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Nope. I think only one person in my office has ran across my blog. Although work consumes most of my day, I try not to write about. How exciting it is being a real life lawyer anyway? Law and Order/Boston Legal is way more exciting.
I also have tried to avoid posting my name on my blog and that worked pretty well. Or at least it did, until my wife started her own blog and revealed my secret idenity.
Ha ha! I noticed that on her site.
May 16, 2008 at 4:51 am
Most of the people I work with think blogging is stupid…and I like it that way. I’d prefer to meet new people online anyways!
Most of the people I work with don’t know what a blog is.
May 16, 2008 at 7:54 am
My boss doesn’t read. He’s always too busy being a jerk.
Will you have a new boss soon?
May 16, 2008 at 4:46 pm
I doubt it. He’d have made some sort of comment about it by now. Coworkers may have read/still read it though since I created the site as part of an HTML class I took through work.
I don’t know if I can recall you doing any workplace posts…it’s all very mysterious to your loyal readers.
May 17, 2008 at 11:41 am
I wrote about my former boss and actually linked to her photo and bio, but after I quit working there. I’m pretty sure she was going to fire me WITHOUT having read my blog (she didn’t like the results of a personality test all employees were forced to take). But the one roommate who I currently despise found my blog. I won’t be writing any more nasty-grams about her but I’m not about to take what I’ve already written down because my feelings haven’t changed.
Oh no (about the roommate)!! I am guessing that wasn’t a pleasant conversation. I need to look for your former boss post.
May 19, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Fortunately, my boss tends to see most Web 2.0 technologies as fairly worthless. My blog, with the all-over-the-place topics, would probably reach a new level of uselessness for him.
An interesting, and somewhat related question, is who from “real life” knows about one’s blog and reads it? Do friends from church or close know about it? Does that restrict what you would write about? I write a lot about both of my sons, but I’ve also made sure that they know when I’ve done so, and that I’ll remove anything they find too personal. I think to some degree, they’re OK with it now that they’re older, but would have resented it when they were younger.
Were my blog one that published my real name, I would probably blog less about the boys, and more about other topics. As it is, the boys retain about the same level of anonymity that I have, so it seems to work for everyone.
There’s probably a similar dynamic going on related to my job and my boss. If I were writing about things that drew negative attention to our company, or used the name of the company explicitly, then I’m sure it would end pretty quickly (the blog or the job, take your pick).As long as I don’t name names or write in such a way that it clearly identified the company (i.e. “today, at the largest and most successful software company located in Redmond, Washington…”), he might resent me venting about office politics or shenanigans, but I doubt he’d lose sleep over it. – Tim
That is a very interesting, and definitely related, question about who in real life knows about your blog. Many people from my real life know about my blog (my dad, cousins, aunts, friends, co-workers, my mom though she doesn’t read it, and a former supervisor). It definitely restricts what I write…though not necessarily in a bad way. With a few humorous exceptions, you can trust what I post to be true because somebody from my real life would call me out on it if it weren’t. This is definitely a postable topic in and of itself.
I agree with your office assessment, and I hope that my workplace posts follow your guidelines.
May 21, 2008 at 1:19 pm
My guess is that this probably explains why so many people write “alter ego” blogs. I wonder if WordPress has ever done any statistics about the average number of blogs a given IP address generates? (This is different than one ID being associated with several blogs, as people would figure out pretty quickly that one person was behind both blogs.)
Similarly, it would be interesting to quiz some of the alter-ego bloggers about their motivations for doing so. I wonder what the various reasons might be, and if it has something to do with our tendency to have a “hidden self” that we allow some to see, but others not. Hmmm… – Tim
May 21, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I don’t have an “alter ego” blog, but I keep the one I run anonymous. I write about things that would embarrass or offend a significant portion of my family. They’re hundreds of miles away and so I generally can be myself and not worry about it, but if they knew about my blog I’m sure many of them would have the idea to use it to keep in touch. I’d much rather just keep it anonymous than to censor myself.
There are a couple of ‘net friends who know my identity to varying degrees, including one with whom I keep in fairly regular touch by phone. But besides my wife, nobody who has ever met me in person knows that I’m the Taoist Biker.
May 21, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I have a couple alter ego blogs. One is a very conservative family theme in which my family drops in and reads about us. I NEVER want my family to read my NC-17 blog (the one linked to me here) I would not want my Dad to see me curse.
And I have a deep dark blog that only a select few people know about. It is the place where I deal with painful ugly stuff that I don’t feel like sharing with others. It is a personal journal of my demons.