Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Fired for Blogging

Apparently, there is a growing list of people getting fired for blogging. Even blogger heaven Google cast off a disgruntled employee who was disgrunting in public. The Queen of Sky flight attendent is a getting a great deal of attention. She was fired because several pictures on her site showed pictures of her in uniform. The reports I read didn't indicate if the poses were provocative. Simply that they existed. I suspect that airline was more worried about effects of blogging on the corporate culture opposed to publicity about their uniforms. Too much free thought starts people wondering why we have an out of what social structure with only a few owners to thousands of workers.

There needs to be a way to address the imbalances of power between individuals and corporations without the debate being hijacked by activists recruiting for the revolution. I keep thinking of adding to crass commercial. The size and the limited number of players in so many markets really is spelling the end of the original dream of a free society. The blogger firings provide a visible example of the way that modern corporate culture suppresses individual expression.

On the flip side, of course, is that sad fact that few bloggers realize that the process of blogging is a form of publishing and requires attention to details such as copyrights and trademarks. It is said, though, that people who write, create art work or otherwise think outside of the corporate box often do great harm to their careers.

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