Someone at PR Newswire Thinks I’m Full of Myself

I suppose that’s a valid statement. This blog wouldn’t be called “TeresaCentric” if I weren’t fully prepared to poke fun at my own narcissism. What’s more, I’m asking for it. I’m out here in the blogosphere spouting my opinion, which is the equivalent of painting a big red target on my ass. But all that aside, when someone comes in out of nowhere and calls me on my arrogance completely unprovoked and out of context, it can seem a little…well…rude.

But rudeness isn’t the reason I’m writing this blog post. I’m writing it because of where the comment came from. According to Wordpress, this particular comment came from IP address 199.230.26.52, which is associated with PR Newswire’s New Jersey Offices.

I would think that this would be an issue of special concern to the folks over at PR Newsire, given that their work takes place at the intersection of public relations and emerging technologies/online cultures. You would think that they’d given their employees a lecture or two about using company time/resources to post rude comments on other people’s blogs. It’s not so much an issue of wasting time at work as it is about misrepresenting your company.

I don’t believe for a second that this rude commenter meant to represent his company. He was probably just having a crappy day at work and decided to take his frustrations on an opinionated woman 3,000 miles away. But what he and his employers need to understand is that every time someone comments on a blog using a company computer, that comment can easily be traced back to the company. Therefore, any time you leave a comment on a blog from a company computer, you are representing your company.

These exact same kinds of mistakes have plagued other companies in the blogosphere in the past. Employers need to take the time to talk to their employees about why behaving unprofessionally from company computers could come back to bite them in the ass.

I’m not going to make any assumptions about this being somehow PR Newswire’s fault. It’s entirely possible that the management team has already discussed this issue with their employees. This particular joker may be demonstrating flagrant disregard for both social norms and company policy. It’s also possible that the joker in question isn’t even a PR Newswire employee. They could be a hacker who cleverly accessed PR Newswire’s WiFi network from his apartment next door. It could be some hapless employee’s kid who has been dragged to work with his dad. It could be the work of an intern on his coffee break. But whatever the case, let this stand as a cautionary tale to businesses everywhere.