Ok, it really isn’t that bad however it does go without saying that the internet is a very powerful tool. And thus, with it being so powerful, it can also make and break businesses. With the onset of social networking as a marketing tool, many business owners or business minds in general are looking into blogging as a form of  connecting with others and sharing the skills that they have. Many, in fact, are able to monetize their blogging skills by creating a large reader base and running ads on their sites.

As I started to do some research on blogging in general I found out that there is also a dark side to this form of communication. Often times people don’t think about the possible repercussions of blogging. In fact, when posting anything on the web, did you know that upon clicking on that “Post” or “Publish” button, the words that you write are copyrighted right then and there? Also, another question to ask yourself is, what is your responsibility to the people you write for and about?

Say I had a blog site that had one million readers (wouldn’t that be great??!?). Now with those one million readers I have direct access to their thoughts and impressions. If I were to say that McDonalds uses rat meat in their burgers (which they absolutely do not), imagine the amount of people out of the million that would believe me. Then add on the viral impression that that has on the people the so-called believers tell.

Here is a good example of what could happen (as written in Inc. Magazine):

The article written in the Nov. 08 edition of Inc Magazine is entitled, “A Cold Call, a Blog, and a $20 Million Lawsuit”.

Basically, a small business owner was contacted by a media company wanting to use her and her company in a documentary concerning her niche, eco-friendly clothing. She was excited. However, as talks progressed, the owner became skeptical of the media company. At one point, an employee from the media company told her that she would be charged close to $26,000. “Feeling creeped out”, the owner wrote to the better business bureau and posted a blog about the company on her company website.

That action ultimately put her business at risk. Even though her intent was to protect other businesses out there from the company, the company did have a seemingly reputable business. Anyway,  the media company caught wind of her post and asked her to remove it from the site, an action that she refused to do. Upon the refusal, she was smacked with a $20 million lawsuit which included $5 million in lost business by the media company and $15 million in punitive damages. Ouch.

The result? A nine month litigation process and a settlement.

From the small business owner side, she felt that the presentation made to her (the initial call) was not clear. From the media company’s stand point, it was.

Lesson? Anything posted on a CEO’s blog - including reader comments - can be constured as carrying the weithgt of a company’s endorsement. - Mark Zwillinger, atorney

Ultimate Lesson? The things you publish on the internet have a direct reflection on you and others. All published work has the ability to influence others so do it in the right way.

To help everyone out I found a good blog article about the rules of blogging. Check it out.

Lastly, check out the links below. They contain some mistakes made by others when posting on the web.

Other Internet blunders:

Speaker makes a mistake by writing on Twitter

People get fired for convo on Facebook