Simple answer: yes. Same question: should every outward facing employee have a face? - Lars Trieloff

Absolutely - Aram Zucker-Scharff

I almost said no, because janitors and other people don't really deal with customers, do they? But then I remembered the lady who cleaned my hotel room. She said hi and asked if she could make my stay better. Made my feelings about Sheraton go up. So, everyone affects the brand and everyone is customer facing and everyone can affect our understanding of what the company does, or help us have a better experience with it. - Robert Scoble

Yes. It makes them easier to contact and simpler to manage. - Tyler Hurst from twhirl

Robert: I'd argue that janitors and cleaning staff aren't outward-facing employees. - Kevin Fox

Kevin: I'd argue that they are. Everyone comes into contact with other human beings and they all represent the company in some way every day. If you hire great people all the way through your organization, you won't have to worry. If you hire idiots, then I'd worry about this stuff. - Robert Scoble

No. Most outward-facing employees are already outward-facing and present in the ways they need to be by default. Plastering them on a billboard for people unrelated to see, or opening them up personally for disgruntled customers to stalk... seems to be going a bit far. - abacab

I would say it depends. If you have a sales team with 100 people why not a blog for the team and then each individual member can blog. 100 blogs is maybe taking it a bit far? - sofiagk

I think its should be up to the employee. - John P. Kreiss

Any question that begins with "Should Every..." I stop reading immediately. Every situation is different - Bwana ☠

That's true, Chris, but I seriously doubt that the employees that are required to do so are, say, tellers, clerks, cashiers or janitors. - FFing Enigma (aka Tina)

I think it might just be important to find web presence, not to actually blog. I guess that suggests the value of a static web presence. Hmm. -Steve - Steve Ames

At some point, I'd say that some kind of web presence would be just as important as a name badge. Not that they have to be a super blogger, but that we can interact two ways with them. - Chris Brogan

The problem, for me, is in the word "every." WalMart cashiers? JCPenney sales clerks? The security guard who works the gate for the college campus? The drive-thru workers at Taco Bell? - Ladybug Heather

Here in the VERY near future, if not already, a person's virtual identity is going to be just as important as their physical identity. Especially with public figures. - Brad Williamson