Project

Intel is famous for being paranoid so it is probably no surprise that there has been no external sign of corporate blogging. Certainly the fact that there is internal blogging has been reported in places like the San Jose Mercury News which talked about CEO Paul Otellini's internal blog.

But things are changing a bit and a bunch of people are working on how to break a small hole in the corporate wall. I've even argued that some portions of the wall should be kept. But I think it is nearly impossible to avoid getting on the bandwagon. With that in mind, here is what I've proposed as guidelines for Intel's corporate blogging guidelines:

1. Be PASSIONATE!!! (uh, well only if you want to... It is OK to be boring... if you like)* Write about what you know, and what you're excited about.
   
2. Respect your audience. Write clearly and well. With only your text to go by, many people will make assumptions about your intelligence so good writing (including correct grammar and spelling) does matter. Respect their opinions and don't insult them.
   
3. Respect the truth. If you are posting code, take a minute to confirm it is not buggy. If you are posting product data, make sure it is up to date. If you are repeating information you have heard elsewhere, take a moment to fact check with another source.
   
4. Respect privacy. If you are writing about co-workers or posting pictures which may show them, please make sure you have talked to them first. When in doubt, don't do it. Treat unreleased products as your closest friends and make sure you have permission before you write about them too.
   
5. Respect the law. Understand and obey copyright law and fair use (link to EFF site -http://www.eff.org/bloggers/lg/faq-ip.php). Understand and obey Intel's trademark guidelines (link to trademark guidelines).
   Respect your limits.
   
6. Call for help if you need it. Trolls, stalkers, journalists and other strange creatures live on the internet. If you are feeling like you are getting in deeper than you can handle contact the blogging Ombudsman and they will help you.

It will be interesting to see where this leads. Certainly legal and corporate marketing people will chomp on whatever is proposed. I'll try and do a comparison between this proposal and the "real" guidelines if/when they are released. What do you think about this proposal?

*(note: the exhortation and triple exclamation points in the first item were lifted from someone else's version. The italics and permission to bore are all mine)

[Update: I was reminded that I'm required to add this: The content of this message is my personal opinion only and although I am an employee of Intel, the statements I make here in no way represent Intel’s position on the issue, nor am I authorized to speak on behalf of Intel on this matter. ...etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.]

[Update 2: don't forget to check out Josh Bancroft's ideas on this too]