CEO blogs get personal

The blogosphere loves candor and transparency—but lines need to be drawn somewhere

When Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google, disclosed in a post on his personal blog that he has a genetic predisposition for developing Parkinson’s disease, the business press was rife with questions: What would the disclosure do to Google’s stock? Was Brin just giving props to his wife’s company, which performed the DNA mapping that revealed the gene mutation? Should Brin have kept quiet about the possible health issue until it became a reality, if ever?

For the past few years, communicators have been told that their execs need to build a blog following by being candid, opinionated and transparent. The question is, how open is too open? If you start to spill the beans about a nasty breakup with your spouse, or your teenager’s DUI arrest, will you endear customers and partners to your honesty and straightforwardness? Or will they cringe as they mutter, “T.M.I.!”