There are 8 million personal Web logs — or blogs — in the United States, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. People write blogs to talk about their day, family outings, dates gone awry and, of course, work. But what might feel like a very personal entry about a dismal workday can mean something quite different to a boss who needs only a search engine to read it.

There’s several infamous stories how blogs have gotten their masters into hot waters. Take the dude at Microsoft that wondered out aloud why Microsoft is purchasing Apple Macintosh Computers. Obviously, he’s not working at Microsoft any longer. I could go on and on, but looking at my blogging colleagues in the pharmaceutical industry, I can only say that they keep themselves covered and don’t comment on anything related to their employer. Heck, you’d have a hard time even figuring out who their employer is in the first place. Needless to say - that’s how I keep it.

Even if workers write the blog anonymously, an employer may be able to take the position that blogging “is inconsistent with the business mission,” said Jonathan A. Segal, an employment attorney in Philadelphia.

Usually the blogger has little protection. “In most states,” said Gregg M. Lemley, a St. Louis labor lawyer, “if an employer doesn’t like what you’re talking about, they can simply terminate you.”

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