Ex-employees blogging

Doug Edwards, who was Google’s director of consumer marketing and brand management from 1999 until recently, has been blogging about his former employer for what appears to be the last week or so. The blog, Xooglers (get it? ex-Googlers?), invites other former Google employees to “reminisce and comment on the latest developments in search.” Most of his initial posts recount interviewing for, getting, and starting the job, including this notable excerpt:

So, now I was Google’s online brand manager. What exactly did that mean? I didn’t have a clue, and evidently no one else did either. It was as if some corporate biological alarm clock had gone off: “You know, we’re at that point where we need to have somebody to do all that stuff that’s not engineering. Let’s get us some of them marketing folks. And since the world is divided between online and offline, we’ll get one of each.”

So far, I haven’t found any comments that come from other former Google employees, but the blog’s only been around about a week and may not yet be on xoogler radar screens. Nevertheless, the number of comments is growing and the blog seems to be gaining popularity quickly. Edwards’ candor and writing style don’t hurt.

Ex-employee websites are nothing new,  of course. Employees of Enron who had lost their jobs started several sites that served as resources, gathering places, and support. But this is the first time I’ve seen a blog dedicated to discussion of a former employer. While Google hasn’t done anything comparable to Enron’s abuses—and thus would not be likely to inspire the kind of vitriol the ex-Enron sites did—it is a venue where dirty laundry can be aired and a company embarrassed. As the audio clip Adam Curry often plays warns, “There are no secrets, only information you don’t yet have.”

Hat tip to Google Blogoscoped.

1. Naturally, there is plenty to fear for a employer if a dismissed employee is credible and articulate enough to create a blog with a following.

   Of course, if companies treat their employees right, so that even when they leave they still think fondly of the company, then they could even benefit from this.

   But that isn’t going to make the headlines. That is saved for when blogs go bad…

   Posted by Dan Hill  on  11/27  at  05:28 AM

2. I think this is one aspect of HR/internal communications that is completely overlooked today.  Thanks for posting this, Shel.  I’ll include it in Tuesday’s (11/29) “Much Ado About Marketing” blog to see if we can get people discussing the ramifications of having hiring and HR practices forcefully dragged into the daylight.

   Best Regards,

   Mike Bawden
   Brand Central Station

   Posted by Mike Bawden  on  11/28  at  10:11 PM