Information Week interview with Mark Jen and corporate blogging policies

Interesting interview with Mark Jen, the guy who was recently fired from Google. Most people are saying he was fired for blogging, but it seems that he was let go for revealing inappropriate or possibly sensitive financial info – and it just happened that the channel for these “indiscretions” was a blog.

Lessons Learned From Google Blogger Who Got Fired

It still seems a little harsh to me, especially when one considers how relatively young and inexperienced the guy is – 2 alternative explanations:

• Despite their, apparently tough, interview process the Google People decided that they’d made a mistake in hiring, and this was a convenient excuse that didn’t publicly reflect badly on the hiring process
• They decided to make use Mark Jen as an example to the rest of the Google People about what happens when you post stuff you shouldn’t. He’d only been there a few weeks, and so the impact of losing him was probably small compared to someone who’d been there for a while.

Now – where did I put my tinfoil hat ? Although on a more serious note, it really does highlight the pressing need for companies to start establishing or clarifying their policy in this regard. Most companies want all “public” communication channeled though their Comms/PR departments, but that isn’t going to work anymore.

A couple of sensible and balanced policies for weblogging can be found at Groove and Sun Microsystems.