Blogs are often used to break news, and according to a recent New York Times article, they are now being used to break even the bleakest of news: company-wide layoffs.

Editor Claire Cain Miller writes, “Blogging about staff cuts is particularly prevalent in Silicon Valley, where tech gossip sites pounce on every rumor and Web-savvy employees broadcast their every thought on personal blogs and Twitter feeds. Companies feel pressure to break bad news on their own blogs so that they can better control the message.”

It’s interesting to note that both companies and employees are using blogs to discuss layoffs. For example, “Some companies that have skipped the layoff post have suffered. After Jive Software cut 20 percent of its staff, one of the terminated employees, Chris Kalani, called it an “all out massacre” on his personal blog and said he had been forced to leave behind his things, including his wedding photo. Tech blogs immediately picked up the story.” Jive Software was left scrambling to communicate its own message, unsuccessfully using Twitter to react to Kalani’s posts.

In an age of pseudo-transparency, how transparent do layoffs need to be? And to whom do they need to be transparent? The ex-employees or the entire online community?

Not that we needed any more confirmation that blogging is a smart, efficient tool for companies to market themselves—but we can’t possibly turn down further reinforcement from the New York Times.

Yesterday’s article by Marci Alboher, entitled Blogging’s a Low-Cost, High Return Marketing Tool, is rife with examples of businesses who have benefited from this favorite marketing tactic. While this article focuses on small businesses, there’s no question that the strategy translates to start-ups and large corporations alike—especially within the tech sector. Alboher specifically sites the tech world as an arena in which blogging has become standard, and yet, at McBru, we are consistently surprised by how many deep tech groups are not doing this. Thanks also to Alboher for her recommendation to think carefully, even seek assistance, when devising your blogging blueprint. You’ll want to make sure your entries will provide solid insight for your readers, not a cheap product plug.

Lucky enough for those of us within technology, we are knee-deep in research and innovation, so there is always plenty to blog about.