Blogging @ DrKW: Good Idea or Bad Move?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of implementing internal versus external employee blogs in a corporate setting? Are there certain industries where one of these strategies makes more sense?

One of the biggest advantages of implementing an internal blogging capability in a corporate setting is that it empowers the employees and allows them to contribute their own thoughts and ideas about certain events occurring in their everyday lives on the job. These blogs could then be analyzed and gleaned by the ultimate decision-makers to ensure that the final decisions are in line with the overall company sentiment. In my opinion, implementing internal blogs can definitely be advantageous within certain industries such as IT and Consulting. Many firms who operate in these industries have thousands of workers; however, they are all dispersed and the full potential of the overall knowledge base that exists can never be tapped. Being that I am familiar with these industries the most, I know blogs could serve as an additional source of information that assists individuals who are need to determine the best solution to an issue by seeing how others inside the company addressed and handled similar dilemmas and situations. From an external point of view, if companies allow their blogs to be accessed by anyone who has access to the Internet, then it could also be a new mechanism of creating business and establishing relationships with individuals who may have never been reached.

However, there are some issues that could pose problems to corporations who wish to implement both internal and external blogging capabilities to their employees. For instance, a blog that leaks and reveals a company secret into cyberspace could ruin a company's competitive advantage. Also, a blog could provide a channel for an unhappy employee to post "bad press" about their own employer for all to see in an attempt to get revenge. This could damage the corporate image even though the sentiments are very slanted, and potentially may not even be truthful.