Should corporate bloggers go "internal only?"

Todd Biske asks a good question about corporate blogging: how do you build sufficient trust to allow for corporate blogging? 

It's a good read.  Working for a technology company that is very large allows me a level of freedom not seen by my typical peer.  It is one reason I love working for Microsoft.  Innovation has a place here.

Not every Enterprise Architect can write a blog.  As an EA, I know a lot about company policy, strategy, and direction.  I tell none of that to folks outside the company.  On the other hand, most of the other folks who know the same information do not have a blog: Directors, General Managers, etc.  In most companies, having someone know what I know, and still trusting them not to spill the beans in a blog, requires a level of trust that would be difficult to reconcile.  Microsoft has trusted me and I take that trust seriously.

On the other hand, it is useful to be very open about Enterprise Architecture in general.  I want to improve the craft of Enterprise Architecture through sharing and discussing good ideas.  I want to nudge our industry in particular directions through tools, techniques, and good ideas. I can do a lot of that through working with my friends and collegues inside the amazing Microsoft machine.  On the other hand, I find it valuable to water down the Microsoft kool-aid by taking advice, sharing ideas, and being generally collaborative with folks who work on other platforms and share other concerns.

It's a fine line.  Many companies are not comfortable allowing their practitioners to walk it. I can do nothing about that except to provide a counterpoint: EAs can be trusted to share without screwing up.  I hope it helps.