Are Personal Rants OK?

The joy of having a blog is the fact that’s it’s easy to subscribe to and easy to get your thoughts out there. However, if you go on a rant, be ready for some backlash.

I was reading Phill Ryu’s blog the other day when he went off on a rant about someone else in the industry. It was a well thought out post and was very personal. In the comments, the talk was mixed. Some agreed with Phill’s viewpoints, others slammed him for creating such a negative and personal blog post. So when is it ok? When is it not?

Where there is no definite answer, but there is one good determining rule; is it a personal or professional blog? If the blog is your own blog, and not directly associated with a business, then you are able to post whatever you want. Praise one thing, blast another. Freedom of speech, you can do that.

If it’s a professional blog, you should think long and hard about posting a rant. Think about how it’ll effect the company. Will it cause you to get fired? Will it effect others and make your work environment worse? Phill Ryu’s blog is personal, so he had every right to go off on a personal rant and I think it’s good he did.

Not only do rants have a tendency to shock and upset some, it shows that you are passionate about something. You are not just someone who plays it safe and doesn’t take chances, you are someone who cares enough to put their own credibility on the line. However, you won’t know if it’ll help or hurt your blog until after it’s been posted.

Personal rants on blogs can be both good and bad. It’s all in how you write it, where you write it and how you handle any positive or negative feedback about it. Go ahead, be bold, be assertive and be ready for whatever may come of it.