Jul
12
2007
Should you put “do not blog this” in your emails?
Posted in the Category of Stuff
I almost always include the following in my email signature:
This e-mail is [ ] bloggable [x] ask first [ ] private
Waddya think? Should your email recipients respect such a request??
Full disclosure: I got the idea from Seth Godin.
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Comments
Geoff Livingston said on July 13, 2007 at 01:41 PM
I think you’re inviting people to blog the email by doing that. In my mind, if it’s gotten to that point in a conversation, it’s time to pick up the phone.
Ryan Sasaki said on July 13, 2007 at 01:55 PM
I think that it’s important to put a confidentiality note in your signature to ensure that people don’t blog what you email. Not that I necessarily have a problem with it, but even if I agree that something is “bloggable” it still can be taken out of context which is what my biggest fear is. I like to put a confidentiality note in my signature in hopes that if people want to blog what I email, they will at least ask first. I believe Seth does the same thing in his signature.
Donna Papacosta said on July 13, 2007 at 05:39 PM
I have put this notice on my emails from time to time, Debbie. Like Geoff L, though, I sometimes think that if it’s something I don’t want the world to know, I probably shouldn’t commit it to email! Still, there are times you just want to chat with or vent to friends, and you don’t necessarily want other folks to see your thoughts. At times like these, a confidentiality reminder is a good idea.
David Murray said on July 16, 2007 at 08:46 AM
Debbie, I think there’s a distinction between “blogging"--or publishing in print--a personal e-mail, and doing it with a group e-mail whose recipients you don’t know.
As a reporter, would I publish a personal e-mail that I received from someone? Only if it passed a heavy test of illuminating a VERY important point, and only if it was the only way of illuminating that point. (I’ve never received a personal e-mail that passed such a test.)
But the e-mail I published of yours was a mass e-mail--or at least I had every right to assume it was that, as it was addressed to a group (and) I couldn’t see who else had received it. (If I saw four other names in the To list I would have been less inclined to publish it than if I’d seen 25 or 100.)
My publishing this on my blog felt no different to me than would publishing the contents of a brochure you sent out. Tell me how it’s different.
(This comment edited for length)
Debbie Weil said on July 19, 2007 at 12:39 PM
David,
Because I sent the personal email in question to a group of colleague/friends, I deliberately BCC’d the names to protect everyone’s privacy. That’s standard email etiquette.
I plan to write up a lessons learned / best practices tips based on this little incident (my asking for comments on a corporate blog). But give me a few days. I’m on vaca…
In the meantime, thanks for your email which I took to be an apology and from which I quote (excerpt):
“Debbie, I’m sorry this thing got so overheated… I hope you understand I only intended a small conversation on my blog about this…
Onward,
David”
Amen.
David Koopmans said on July 22, 2007 at 06:31 PM
Debbie,
What a strange idea to publish content from a personal email without the other person’s consent…
David
Susan Weiner said on September 23, 2007 at 04:15 PM
Yikes! It never occurred to me that an email would automatically be considered bloggable.
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