The issues that Niall Kennedy has had regarding this blog postings definitely surprised me. I didn’t expect Technorati to have the reaction to the postings that it did, even if there was some flack from those companies and projects pictured in the image Niall posted (which by the way I liked two days ago, and am now considering getting made into a full size poster given the effect that it had - I consider the current conversation evidence that his image was good art). I would have expected the reaction by Technorati to be something more like telling the responding companies “Hey, Niall just works here, we don’t own him. If you have issue with what he said please direct your comments to him.” Seems perfectly rational to me. For some additional commentary and a great running timeline of how it went down check out Tony Gentile’s post.

But no matter what side my personal opinion might lie, I think the episode just underscores the need for blogging policy to be stated up front by corporations. Charles Smith from Pheedo gave a presentation at the eBig RSS SIG about the need for corporations to lay down their policy up front with respect to blogging by employees. If this kind off issue can happen at Technorati it can happen anywhere. Where you draw the line as a corporation is completely up to you, but it’s only fair to lay down the rules in advance so that no one is caught off guard. Feedster has a blogging policy, and we’ve put it up online for those who want something to start with for their own policy. Everyone should have one, particularly those with employees who would like to carry on conversations online but may be afraid to do so unless specifically permitted.

Of course, these views about the issue, artistic leanings, and recommendations are entirely my own, and have nothing to do with Feedster at all. Even though they’re in the Feedster category of my blog. Trust me, they just don’t. This also isn’t legal advice. I specifically disclaim all warranties (whether express or implied) and like my coffee without milk. I make no gauranttee about the ability to operate on an uninterrupted basis, that the material will meet your need, that errors will be corrected, or that the sum of the squares of the two adjacent sides of a right triangle will be equal to the square of the hypotenuse. Your use of this website and the materials contained herein is solely at your own risk. Jibba jabba will not be tolerated in any form. Do the hustle.