This blog post first appeared on blogs.fco.gov.uk on 05 November 2008

Our blogs have received some attention in the UK press in the last few days, first in the Observer and then the Telegraph.

The articles take a well intentioned and well written blog about one of the more interesting roles in the Foreign Office (a “floating” diplomat filling urgent roles in our embassies around the world) and use it to make a wider point about the global financial crisis, highlighting the – undeniable – attractions of a short posting to our small High Commission in the Seychelles.

In troubled economic times such as these, Government officials might be forgiven for trying to portray an image of hard work and frugality. Not, it would seem, Marianne McCurrie, a roving diplomat with the Foreign Office…

I don’t know Marianne, but I think she would have been surprised to have made national newspaper headlines, particularly as her blog actually answers many of the rhetorical questions the articles pose about the nature of her work.

She knows (as I, and other FCO bloggers do) that by writing a blog – by adding your thoughts, your name and your photograph to a public facing website – you make yourself a public figure in a way that government officials have never really been before. Our blogs probably do make us fair game for columnists, even if we usually have quite niche target audiences (potential recruits to the FCO in Marianne’s case, the social media community in mine).

So why would a diplomat blog? Why would a government official expose themself in this way? What is to be gained by posting regular personal refections, presenting them in chronological order, and inviting comments?

I’ll set out in my next few posts how we’re using blogs in the Foreign Office, and why we think it’s worthwhile. I’d like to hear your thoughts too.