guidelines+from+PSEA

Blogging 101 Prepared by the PSEA Legal Division January 2007

As a school employee, you must exercise extreme caution when you engage in blogging or other forms of internet communication. Keep in mind that your First Amendment rights can be limited by virtue of your position as a school employee. If you blog or maintain a web page, you should adhere to the following tips: 1. Minimize the risk associated with internet communication by limiting access to your blog or web page using a “friends only” or similar restrictive setting. 2. If visitors can post to your blog or web page, monitor postings constantly and remove any that are inappropriate. 3. Do not blog or post about your job duties, colleagues, supervisors or students. This will reduce the danger that you might disclose confidential information, share information about a private workplace complaint, or otherwise carelessly or unintentionally engage in speech which could affect your future employment. 4. If you choose to blog or post as a citizen about a non-job related matter of public concern (i.e., the elections, terrorism or environmental issues) take care that what you say will not impede your employer’s effectiveness or efficiency or otherwise disrupt the workplace. 5. If you are blogging or posting about innocuous information (i.e., your favorite football team or family geneology), you still must be careful not to engage in comments that could adversely affect your employer (i.e., damage the employer’s reputation) or interfere with your ability to carry out your job duties. 6. Do not blog or post about personal subjects (i.e., dating, romance, or drug or alcohol use). Your blog or web page should not contain any references to sexual subjects, or contain vulgar or profane language or graphics. If your blog or web page was a movie, it should be rated “G.” 7. Blogging and posting anonymously does not protect you. Names of bloggers, web page authors and other internet users can be discovered through litigation. 8. Check to see if your employer has any policies regarding blogging or web pages. If so, you should review the policy with your PSEA Uniserv. In conclusion, you should be aware that if you blog or maintain a web page, you must use prudence and be extremely careful in your comments. You must give the necessary time and attention to the content of your blog or web page to make sure that it satisfies the general principles above. Please contact your PSEA Uniserv Representative if you have any questions