July 11, 2005

Bloggers Need Not Apply

Category: Other — @ 8:42 am

Bloggers Need Not Apply. (subscription required). Here is a short excerpt:

The pertinent question for bloggers is simply, Why? What is the purpose of broadcasting one’s unfiltered thoughts to the whole wired world? It’s not hard to imagine legitimate, constructive applications for such a forum. But it’s also not hard to find examples of the worst kinds of uses.

A blog easily becomes a therapeutic outlet, a place to vent petty gripes and frustrations stemming from congested traffic, rude sales clerks, or unpleasant national news. It becomes an open diary or confessional booth, where inward thoughts are publicly aired.

Worst of all, for professional academics, it’s a publishing medium with no vetting process, no review board, and no editor. The author is the sole judge of what constitutes publishable material, and the medium allows for instantaneous distribution. After wrapping up a juicy rant at 3 a.m., it only takes a few clicks to put it into global circulation.

We’ve all done it — expressed that way-out-there opinion in a lecture we’re giving, in cocktail party conversation, or in an e-mail message to a friend. There is a slight risk that the opinion might find its way to the wrong person’s attention and embarrass us. Words said and e-mail messages sent cannot be retracted, but usually have a limited range. When placed on prominent display in a blog, however, all bets are off.

So, to the job seekers.

Professor Turbo Geek’s blog had a presumptuous title that was easy to overlook, as we see plenty of cyberbravado these days in the online aliases and e-mail addresses of students and colleagues.

1 Comment »

  1. At my current job (odeo.com) we do allow people to apply who don’t have blogs but it’s seen as a mark against them. If you haven’t made enough impact to show up highly when we google your name, or see what you work on as being valueable enough to blog about it, then there is something wrong with your approche to work and you wouldn’t be a good fit at the company.

    The question to ask the author is why, why do you not care enough to write on your own. Why do you keep barriers up around your professional life.

    Comment by rabble — July 26, 2005 @ 9:34 am

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