blog.forgreatjustice.net

I find myself writing posts like this periodically, but please remember: anything you post publically on the net will be found by the person you least want to read it. Every other week, as I check Technorati to see who’s talking about my company, I also discover employees or former employees talking about their relationship with the company. It’s often clear that this information was not meant to go public.

(Fun fact: at my last job interview, the CEO googled me as I was standing right there. Although I’d never posted anything damaging online, I also wasn’t sure what exactly would turn up. Lessons learned!)

The very definition of privacy is that the right to control which information you make public. If you’re willing to open yourself to transparency and criticism, definitely do so. (You’ll find yourself in good company! Many companies are making good-faith attempts at openness via blogging.) But make sure it’s your choice, and not that of a search engine. When you have personal information to share, always put it behind some kind of filter or security measure. If you’re blogging, the “Post Level” feature in WordPress seems to the trick, while LiveJournal has an excellent “filters” system built in (and this is why I use it for my personal journaling).