How Do You Manage? Case Study: The Blog Hog

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By Michael Rogers -- Library Journal, 04/01/2008

“I can't believe he did it again,” growled Susan Merkle, a librarian at the White Hills Public Library. “I wrote a blog no more than ten minutes ago, and Jack just put one up and knocked mine off the front page before anyone even got a chance to see it. I'm glad I wasted my time.”

Sorting books at the circ desk, Rosemary Fredericks asked, “Was it anything important?”

“It was about the summer book club,” Merkle fumed. “I'm trying to get people to vote on a book and thought I could generate extra interest by blogging on it. Now that's shot.”

“And what is Jack's blog about?”

“It asks why aren't there any librarians on American Idol,” Merkle said.

“Yikes,” Fredericks said, rolling her eyes. “A new low. That's why I stopped blogging for the library and started my own. I just got tired of getting sniped by that guy. He's even written blogs about other staffer's blogs instead of posting a comment in the original. He's always got to be on top. It's annoying. He must post three times a day.”

“It's more than annoying,” Merkle said, her anger bubbling. “It's rude, it's discourteous, and, considering how downright dumb and really unrelated to anything his posts usually are, it could even be labeled unprofessional and even disruptive.”

“Jack's a decent guy. Why don't you talk to him about it?” Fredericks said.

“I know he's a decent guy. I don't dislike him, but this annoys me. You know how some people are perfectly OK but have these weird little competitive or whatever quirks just below the surface?”

“It's funny what brings it out in people,” Fredericks said.

“One of my neighbors is the sweetest, quietest, most polite guy imaginable, but when his favorite ball teams are playing, forget it,” Merkle said. “His wife and kids leave the house until the game is over. I can hear him shouting like a madman three houses down.”

“I should introduce him to my husband,” Fredericks laughed.

“Seriously,” Merkle said, “I don't know if I should talk to Jack. Even though he's basically nice, anyone could get pissed about a thing like this. No one likes to be told they're being rude when they themselves probably think they're doing something great—especially since we're all being encouraged to blog and blog often. I also don't want to carp to his supervisor over something so trivial, because then it looks like I'm the one being rude.”

“Well,” Fredericks said, “you can either talk to Jack, talk to his boss, stop blogging—it's completely voluntary—or do what I did and start your own.”

“True,” Merkle said, “or I can just grin and ignore it.”

“There's that, too,” Fredericks answered. “So which will it be?”

ANALYSIS I: Talk to Jack

In this situation, there appears to be a lack of direction on the part of management, or confusion as to procedure on the part of staff. First, it is surprising that the White Hills Public Librry staff seem to have access to the library's web site in order to make posts. In most instances, the webmaster manages the site and would be the one to add a blog. Staff should certainly be encouraged to post to a library's blog. Perhaps the frequency of posts should also be monitored by the webmaster.

Rather than going to Jack's boss, Merkle should first attempt to speak to Jack about her concerns. Perhaps he doesn't realize that his behavior is disruptive, or maybe he is only doing what he has been instructed to do. For the most part, Merkle's issues are legitimate; however, she should not be critical of Jack's choice of blog subject matter. Merkle is unaware of Jack's blogging responsibilities.

Since management does appear in this case to be encouraging staff to blog, it would not be in Merkle's professional interest to stop blogging, nor would it resolve the issue with Jack. Starting a blog of her own would certainly give Merkle a forum for her ideas; however, is that what management desires? How will Merkle's blog benefit the library's blog?

Additionally, the idea of Merkle being a “blog hog” with an ego problem seems unlikely. If that was the case, then she could simply start her own blog as Fredericks suggests and have complete control of it. Jack, on the other hand, seems a more likely candidate for the label. He should post his comments about other staffers' blogs on the original blog and not on his own, which is poor blogging etiquette.

Finally, many of these concerns can be rectified with some direction from management. While encouraging staff to blog is an admirable goal, the library director may want to consider instituting a blogging policy or, at the very least, train staff on proper blogging procedures and etiquette.

ANALYSIS II: Talk to Supervisor

Blogging, like Web 2.0, is an interactive environment where information is continually updated. Unlike a newsletter or an email, the goal of a blog is to have new material regularly posted, while allowing readers to respond instantly.

Jack is not wrong in his habit of posting multiple times a day. On the contrary, he is following the only instructions given to the staff: to blog often. Unfortunately, this can be frustrating for others, like Merkle, who have spent a significant amount of time on a particular post, only to see it get bumped off the main page.

Clearly, this is not a new situation, as Jack's frequent blog posting has also turned off other staff members, a fact that White Hills library administrators may not be aware of and one that needs to be addressed.

Merkle shouldn't speak to Jack. Since there are no clear blog guidelines, there is nothing to indicate that Jack's post on American Idol is less appropriate than a post on the summer book club. At the same time, Merkle has nothing directly to complain about to Jack's supervisor.

Meanwhile, Fredericks's recommendation to start a personal blog or to stop blogging altogether would be a loss for the library. If the situation does not improve, the White Hills Public Library blog may eventually become Jack's personal blog.

To prevent this from happening, it would be advisable for Merkle to have a friendly meeting with her supervisor about the blog. There would be no need to mention Jack but to ask her supervisor to explain the blog's goals and the library's policy on posts.

As a result of this meeting, Merkle's supervisor will hopefully see the need to establish blogging guidelines. One solution would be to create a schedule where each interested staff member posts only on his or her assigned day. This allows each blogger equal time on the main page, while still ensuring the blog is consistently updated. It is equally if not more important to determine the nature of posts.

Since both Merkle and Fredricks believe Jack's posts are inappropriate for the library's blog, a supervisor should be monitoring all posts. It should be determined if the blog is meant for posts on anything library-related or only White Hills library topics.

If these guidelines are established, the entire staff should meet to discuss and become familiar with the changes. At this time, Jack would learn of the new policy without an unnecessary confrontation with Merkle.

Alternatively, Merkle could enlist Fredericks to go with her to speak with a supervisor. By going with another staffer, Merkle shows that she is not the only one concerned and upset by the state of the blog and that her goal is not to ensure that only her posts remain at the top of the main page.

In either scenario, the important thing is for Merkle to speak with a supervisor and not handle her frustrations by ignoring the situation or potentially causing a problem with Jack.

A supervisor or administrator needs to be aware of these concerns so they can be addressed and resolutions found. If not and personalities get in the way, both the blog and relationships among staffers may suffer.