Does anyone see the irony in a blog that’s intended to help people balance their work-life obligations crossing the line into my personal space by forcing me to opt out of unsolicited emails? If I happen to notice the tiny little box? Which I did not?

This is a bad idea – here’s the spam I got last night from Deloitte after commenting on their work-life balance blog:

And here’s the submit a comment page, on which, looking at it twice (once to comment, once in prep for this post) I did not notice the “Would you like to be notified when new blog entries are posted?” box, already pre-checked (which in itself is generally regarded as bad form):

If you’re engaged in permission-based marketing in the social media space, i.e. a corporate blog, it behoves you to let your readers be in control – that is, this isn’t a regular old website. I’m reading your blog because I’m interested. If you’re using “opt out” tactics to get my email address and then send me spam, I’m not going to like you very much – and I might not return, feeling that you have taken advantage of me.

So Deloitte? Do yourselves a favour: make the text more visible and uncheck that box. Anything else shows me that you don’t get my desire for work-life balance and you’re more interested in collecting data for future use than you are in connecting with me as an individual.

But that’s just my take – what’s yours, Dear Readers?

Please be sure to read the latest update on this issue here