Google Employee Fired!

[HiddenNook]

I mentioned in an earlier post about an employee, named Mark Jen who worked for Google and had a blog. Apparently he has been fired for some of the things he mentioned on his site. The Google Blogoscoped has more from Jeremy Zawodny, who works at Yahoo and talked to Mark Jen:

First off, nothing Mark said surprised me. Yes, he was fired from Google. It was directly related to his blog. He was employed there for just a couple of weeks.

Mark's a good guy. He doesn't believe he was doing anything wrong (neither do I based on what he told me). In fact, he wasn't even aware of the blogosphere's Google obsession – or at least the search bloggers who watch every little thing Google does – until this happened. Let's just say that he was surprised by his sudden fame."

Well, I guess not all is love and fame at Google. Selah!

[Stuff2Do]

google, they are unreasonable, they can be good at times when they want to, and they can be evil when they want

[tokkolo]

I read Mark Jen's blog. And I must honestly say I found him out of line. He gave away sencitive coperate information, and that is not really smart to do in your first week of employment (or at any other time of your employment). I don't know what the details of his contract were, but I do assume that would be some kind of agreement about not giving away inside information. And that is what he did, openly on the internet.

If I would have a company I would not want employees who give out corperate information to the entire world. I would have second doubts about his employment. So I don't really think it's that strange that he got fired.

[geekerati]

Nice story thanks for sharing it Hiddennook. tokkolo, if I could get a job working for Google I would be on my best behaviour, watching my P's & Q's, and I agree "loose lips, sink ships".

[tokkolo]

A little update about the Mark Jen thing, in case you're interested. He wrote a new entry in his blog:

the official story, straight from the source

i know it's been quite a while since anything substantial was posted on my blog, but thanks for bearing with me. as i said in my previous post, it's been a hectic two weeks. i've finally finished thinking through a few things so here it is...

on january 28th, 2005, i was terminated from google. either directly or indirectly, my blog was the reason. this came as a great shock to me because two days ago we had looked at my blog and removed all inappropriate content - the comments on financial performance and future products. for my next entries, i was very cognizant of my blogging content, making sure to stay away from these topics. i mean, as much as i like to be open and honest about communicating to users and customers, i'm not insubordinate. if i was told to shut down this blog, i would have.

as scoble says, i should've waited a little longer and felt the company out a bit more before i started blogging at length. in retrospect, that is good advice and a lesson learned. i was just too excited. i felt like i was joining a small start-up family; i thought i was going to start new initiatives and improve existing ones; i thought i could jump in the deep end and immerse myself in the revolutionary development environment; i thought i could make connections to real people in the outside world and get first hand feedback; i thought google would love it. i thought wrong.

i've actually viewed this as a great learning experience. obviously, i've gotten a first-hand chance to learn about the power of blogging. i've also learned to be a little more analytical about situations, a lot more cautious and a lot less assuming. however, i've also confirmed that i'm willing to take a stand for what i believe in. i've confirmed what i'm looking for in a career and i know what i love to do - by the way, it's not blogging, it's creating revolutionary solutions . some people live a lifetime without getting a chance to learn these things about themselves; i'm grateful i've gotten that chance.

people ask me if i'm bitter. funny thing is, despite all this, at the end of the day, i can see where google is coming from - but i don't agree with their stances and i wish they had executed a little differently. i think blogging is the next big thing on the internet. the web gave people revolutionary access to information; email and instant messaging disrupted the way people communicate with each other; blogging empowers everyone to create new information and connect in a community. it’s the culmination of lots of the progress that has happened on the internet rolled into one huge, powerful, killer app. corporations should embrace this technology just like the ones before it. companies that are confident in their offerings should let employees spread the word. in today's age of information overload, blogging is quickly emerging as the fastest and most cost-effective method of marketing.

finally, for all those in the evil/not evil argument, realize that google is a public, for-profit company. i do not believe google is either evil or good. companies take what they feel are logical steps in doing business, and business isn't always fair.

thanks for reading! oh, and if you’re looking for a talented technical project/product/program manager, i guess i’m on the market now. if you have a corporate blogging policy, i promise i’ll follow it. i’ll use proper capitalization in my specs too .

http://99zeros.blogspot.com
(The entrie already has 107 comments)

ZD Net Australia also wrote an article about that blog entry. If you want to read it click here

[Stuff2Do]

i read it, i still dont think he should have been fired

[cvrk3]

I think ther guy is honest! i do like his attitude!! He had accepted a situation, where his employers have drawn a line. Google probbaly deos not beleive in One More chance!!

[geekerati]

Hahaha... That's the problem... HONESTY! Haven't you ever noticed
that the closer you get to the truth, the more
the crap hits the fan. The truth hurts and always will.

[cvrk3]

but still you go for the truth!

[Mayur]

Originally Posted by cvrk3

I think ther guy is honest! i do like his attitude!! He had accepted a situation, where his employers have drawn a line. Google probbaly deos not beleive in One More chance!!

You got that right. You get one chance. You blow it and your done.