Just when things were starting to settle down

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This entry was published at least two years ago (originally posted on November 22, 2003). Since that time the information may have become outdated or my beliefs may have changed (in general, assume a more open and liberal current viewpoint). A fuller disclaimer is available.

Earlier this week, I started noticing something odd. It had finally been long enough since my fifteen minutes of fame that traffic was starting to come back down to a more normal level. Oddly, though, for the past few days I’d been getting a lot of hits from the article in the Seattle P-I about my situation. Obviously, it had been linked somewhere with a decent amount of traffic — but where?

Today, the mystery was solved, thanks to an e-mail from Mike: It turns out that Blogger has posted a new tech support article entitled “How Not to Get Fired Because of Your Blog” which links to the Seattle P-I article.

Do you blog at work? Do you check your referrer logs and surf the blogosphere all day from your office? Do you think it might be funny to mock your co-workers publicly, or that it could be a good idea to post photos of sensitive corporate information on your blog? If only Blogger Support could have reached this unfortunate Blogger sooner. Folks, this doesn’t have to happen to you.

These days, many companies are blog-friendly because they recognize a valuable tool for communication and the sharing of ideas when they see it. However, as with any public medium, care should be exercised from time to time. Here at Blogger, we want you to keep your job and as always, ending your blog should be a last resort reserved only for woeful situations. Fret not gentle blogger, we’ve put together this document to help you keep those paychecks rolling in.

So, apparently I’ve been immortalized by Blogger’s tech support crew, which is resulting in a fair amount of traffic moving from Blogger to the Seattle P-I, and then from their article back to me. Well, hey, any traffic is good traffic, right? ;)

Additionally, I got this in my e-mail today:

From: sinta
Subject: Your blog on CNN
Date: November 22, 2003 11:53:20 PST
To: Michael Hanscom

Hiya Michael

Just want to point out to you that your blog was shown on CNN Global Business just today at 7:30 Swiss time :) It just finished a few minutes ago. They talked about that Microsoft incident you had a while back :)

Just thought you’d like to know ^_^

Bestest regards from Switzerland,
Sinta~

http://www.lockload.com
The one and only He Says, She says double blog.

Apparently, my story is (for the moment) the Energizer Bunny of blogging stories — it just keeps going, and going, and going, and going…

Update: Many thanks to Sudheer from in Beijing for sending me a link to the online version of the CNN piece: The Budding Blogs of Business! Here’s the relevant bit:

Microsoft has taken a benevolent attitude to blogging. But it balked when an employee revealed on his blog how the company had taken delivery of a shipment of Apple computers. He was quickly relieved of his duties.

13 thoughts on “Just when things were starting to settle down”

  2. Hey there, Michael. I found you through Blogger last week sometime and have linked your blog to mine. Why? Because, it’s a good read. Even after your fame has diminished, I’m sure there are plenty of us who will still be reading. Besides, you’re a well-informed neighbor.

  4. I agree with both Amanda and Firas. This little “incident” has brought you a good few readers :) LOL. If that CNN business today come on TV again, I’ll try to get a pic and send it to ya :D There I was, sitting on my couch, a brow raised when I heard that a bit of blogging would be coming up next. My jaw dropped when I saw your page on TV and they commented on your plight.

    It’s a small world. :D

  5. How perfectly typical of CNN to talk about your incident, the effects and the topic without contacting you for comment. That’s real news for you.

  6. I’m not surprised about CNN not contacting you. They suck like that. Especially considering it’d be so damn easy to do so…

    just to give you a heads up, the next time something similar happens, you’ll get an upsurge of traffic again. These things never really die – they go dormant and then suddenly get resurrected.

    Hopefully that doesn’t mean you’ll always be known as ‘that one blogger who…’ but like the folks before me said, you’ve gotten some valuable readership from it.

    hugs -k

  7. I actually found your blog from the blogger site. I don’t know how I was directed to the blogger site. But that’s how I came across you. Now I just enjoy reading your blog.

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