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Blogs: The Risks & Benefits of Blogging
Blogs: The Risks & Benefits of Blogging
What is a Blog & Why You Need One
Mistakes Bloggers Make
Common Problems with Visitor Comments
How to Protect Yourself & Your Blog
Additional Blog Resources
Disclaimer: This material is meant for informational purposes only and not to be used as legal advice. Please consult an attorney for legal advice related to your particular situation.
A blog is an online diary or web log. Blogs are a great way to:
- Inform your customers of news and events
- Educate your customers
- Connect on a personal level your customers
- Drive customers to your main website
- Revealing Trade Secrets – Employees may unintentionally (or intentionally) give away the recipe for the secret sauce. Be cautious not to reveal too much.
- Copyright Infringement – Using someone else’s words, graphics, or other intellectual property without permission is a definite no-no.
- Defamation – Saying bad things about someone else can lead to legal troubles.
- Comment Spam - Spammers love blogs because they can use your blog to improve their search engine ranking by adding links to their unscrupulous sites.
- Defamation - People may use your blog to say unfavorable things about you or someone else.
- Copyright infringement – Even if you’re careful, your users may include copyrighted material in their comments.
- When in doubt – don’t write it!
- Monitor your employees’ blogs
- Monitor your visitors' comments
- Delete any potentially dangerous postings
- Avoid comment spam by restricting links by either not allowing HTML or adding a rel="nofollow"
- Have a written policy for your employees that states what they can and can’t write about your business in their personal and company blogs
- Keep User-Generated Content Legal by Terri J. Siligman for Site Point
- How to Stop Comment Spam by Ajit Monteiro for Site Point
- Assessing Legal Risks and Guidelines for User Comments by Al Tomkins for Poynter Online