The Perils of Blogging: Getting Dooced

The perils of blogging have been well documented since Heather Armstrong lost her job as a result of the content of her blog Dooce. In fact, the term "dooced" was coined as a result of her firing and it can be found in some dictionaries. The Urban Dictionary defines dooced as, "to lose one’s job because of one’s website". I posted about her site and blogging anonymously back in February. Another high profile case involved Mark Jen losing his job at Google as a result (partially) of his blog. His story was picked up by SimplyFired.com and many others have recounted similar tales.

The question is: what motivates the blogger? Some are only interested in money, sadly. The number of spam blogs is getting out of control. Other sites seem to be based on opinionating. BitchPhD, for example, actually makes money with her rants about politics and academia. I wonder if she will join the list with Ms. Armstrong and Mr. Jen in the near future. Personally, I don't find those sites too compelling but I can imagine how they would be. The same curiosity got me hooked on The Diary of Adrian Mole series when I was a teenager. Opinionating does not carry much appeal for me and I'm aware of its potentially hazardous consequences. Besides, I have no desire to complain (except, I suppose, when I'm thinking about not getting a JD).

Today I heard a motivating story from a fellow TwoL. He had spoken with a first year law student who had been deliberating between Queen's and Western for law school. Apparently, he decided to come to Queen's because of this blog. Now, I assume QLL was only partially responsible for his decision. Even so, I'm touched. Thank you reader. I will blog on.