Scoble goes off the deep end
In a recent blog post Robert Scoble addresses the powers that be at Microsoft about why he’s not going to the PDC this year:
But the stone that made the scale tip is that you have employees out there who are attacking bloggers without consequences. That makes me feel unwelcome, which I really don’t need given all my other concerns about attending
A call for corporate censorship of all Microsoft employees who have a personal blog. This comes from a guy who, long ago, in a galaxy apparently very far away, played an important role in making Microsoft a more open, transparent company that embraced reasonably uncensored blogging of its employees.
I’m curious what “consequences” Robert had in mind.
It gets worse: in the comment thread of his post, Scoble writes:
When I was at Microsoft PR told me to never attack anyone who used ink by the barrel. I wonder what changed? Now it’s OK?
The policy that Microsoft (apparently) has adopted is “don’t do anything stupid”, which I personally believe is a GREAT policy. It appeals to common sense, and it shows respect and trust in your employees.
Robert, your statements go against everything you used to stand for when it comes to empowering bloggers. You’ve become a prima-donna believing that you should be above criticism and that anyone who verbally attacks you should suffer consequences. That’s not the Robert Scoble I used to know.
It’s stupid to argue with the press. Even if they ARE wrong. I would NEVER have stood up for this while blogging at Microsoft. The couple of times I got close to this line I had a “talking to” reminding me that it’s stupid to argue with the press for a whole lot of reasons. To try to say “I’m not representing the company” when online is stupid too. Really stupid. I never argued that. Maybe you need to go back and read my book again. We had a whole chapter on getting fired. This stuff is very well covered there.
nice one…