The High Cost of Blogging

Every now and then, I get into a conversation about what you can say in a blog.  I personally never speak about work or my job, and use an alias.  It has been implied that I am paranoid, but why take chances?  I work for a conservative organization, have been here for a long time, and have a pretty good idea of their likes and dislikes.

So imagine my sense of vindication, accompanied by more paranoia when I read this in the Sunday paper:

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Blogger leaves job as assistant U.S. attorney

NEWARK, N.J.--A young federal prosecutor who was revealed as the author of a spicy blog about the judiciary is leaving the inner circle.

David Lat, who had been the anonymous writer of Underneath Their Robes, left his job as an assistant U.S. attorney in Newark.

Lat, 30, sent an e-mail Friday to fellow staff at the U.S. attorney's office, telling them it would be his last day.  He said he soon would be going to work in Washington.

The blogger initially claimed to be a young, female lawyer going by the pen name of Article Three Groupie, or A3G.  Article III is the section of the Constitution dealing with the judiciary.

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I wonder how he was found out.  If he told someone in confidence, or someone made a particular point of finding out who the blogger was.  NSA, anyone?

But anytime you air anything that someone else doesn't already know, you take a chance, and especially so if you are not cautious.  I wonder how many marriages or relationships have been broken up over something indiscreetly said in a blog.

I also wonder if Lat is going to continue to blog.

(also, why is it in the dateline of news articles, if the story takes place in someplace like Newark, they tell you the state.  If it is in some remote region of the globe, half the time they tell you the city and let you puzzle over where the heck that might be.)

Comments

[Shawn Lea]

Yes, I read that too - but it said he "leaves" his job. The article I read gave the impression that he was just leaving for a DC job, not fired. I read it like he revealed his identity because he was leaving and would not be able to write the column any more because he would no longer be there.

And there is a HUGE difference between trying to write anonymously about the goings-on and shenanigans of your workplace and writing as a real person about your real life away from work. There are boundaries - and I suspect there will be even more as blogging becomes more mainstream - but I think if you're not trashing your employer or your co-workers or doing anything too extreme, you're generally pretty safe (depending on what you do for a living, of course). ;)