When Facebook Sucks a Little

[betenoire]

Well, if he is trash-talking the company you both work for...I can see where that is fireable. Seriously. It makes (him and) the company look bad. I don't know what type of work you do, but I do know that regardless of what type of agency/company it is...trashtalk can effect people's decision to apply for a job at said workplace, and can also effect people's decision to deal with that agency/company. It can have long lasting bad effects on the company - and I'm sure if I were trash-talking my place of employment and my boss got wind of it....I would be gone.

I do draw the line where you hear stories of people being fired for stuff like posting drunk pictures or political rants on facebook (and livejournal, and blogspot, and myspace, and friendster, and and and).

I used to hang out with a guy when I lived in BC who was fired from his job (he worked for the schoolboard as an Educational Assistant) because he had posted drunk party pictures on his blog. I thought, and still think, that was such bullshit.

I do not talk about my job in public, ever. Not on facebook, not on the bus, not at a restaurant. Because you -never- know who is listening. If someone asks me about my job my responce is always about the same "I love my job and can't imagine working anywhere else and I feel very fortunate because my boss is -amazing- and my workplace is almost entirely drama-free. It's a nice environment to work in." (all of those things are true by the way, my job is fabulous) But never more specific than that.

[adorable]

Originally Posted by betenoire

Well, if he is trash-talking the company you both work for...I can see where that is fireable. Seriously. It makes (him and) the company look bad. I don't know what type of work you do, but I do know that regardless of what type of agency/company it is...trashtalk can effect people's decision to apply for a job at said workplace, and can also effect people's decision to deal with that agency/company. It can have long lasting bad effects on the company - and I'm sure if I were trash-talking my place of employment and my boss got wind of it....I would be gone.

I do draw the line where you hear stories of people being fired for stuff like posting drunk pictures or political rants on facebook (and livejournal, and blogspot, and myspace, and friendster, and and and).

I used to hang out with a guy when I lived in BC who was fired from his job (he worked for the schoolboard as an Educational Assistant) because he had posted drunk party pictures on his blog. I thought, and still think, that was such bullshit.

I do not talk about my job in public, ever. Not on facebook, not on the bus, not at a restaurant. Because you -never- know who is listening. If someone asks me about my job my responce is always about the same "I love my job and can't imagine working anywhere else and I feel very fortunate because my boss is -amazing- and my workplace is almost entirely drama-free. It's a nice environment to work in." (all of those things are true by the way, my job is fabulous) But never more specific than that.

Soooooo TRUE!! I do something similar because of the industry I work in. This is where I work today...if I ever want to work somewhere else talking shit about my current employer doesn't make my employer look bad and can really ruin future opportunities.

[theoddz]

I've always had a problem with putting my personal business out in public. I guess I'm just a private person about most things. Mother drilled that into me at a young age, I think. She still quotes a few things that I have never forgotten.

1. "Fools names, fools' faces...are always seen in public places."

2. "Save your money and don't tell your business."

3. "Keep your own counsel."

4. "Never put anything down in writing that you don't want to come back on you later."

5. "Large minds talk about places and things....small minds talk about other people."

6. "Sometimes, you don't need to know everything."

and finally (and BEST OF ALL)...

7. "Even a fish wouldn't get caught if it just kept its mouth shut."

My mother is a very wise soul. I'm glad she taught me well.

~Theo~

[Boots13]

Great topic!

I can relate to feeling frustrated over my interactions on social sites. I am overly reserved on sites because of my career. While it may seem I am distant, unwilling to engage or hesitate to call someone out, it is more aptly related to survival mode. I usually just stick to light hearted or surface types of interactions. If the sh*t starts hitting the fan in a thread, I excuse myself from the fracas. I continue reading, but my involvement takes a precipitous dive. Boots is MIA again.

We are vulnerable on all social networking sites.

[Nat]

Even with all your privacy settings turned on, my impression is that your profile pic, your name and your "liked" stuff is still publicly available?

I think earlier this century it was considered an invasion of privacy for an employer to look at your online activity but now I think googling and facebook checks are standard. I think the expectation of privacy is waning.

I have a facebook, but it's locked down and doesn't have my last name on it anymore. It's this weird convergence of family, friends and ex-coworkers, and a handful of long-term Internet friends.

I have wondered if facebook provides a means for covert hiring discrimination when it comes to orientation, gender, beliefs, culture or anything else not easily gleaned from an interview.

[Write14u]

Adorable,
As a person who also helps manage a staff, albeit much smaller than yours, I can understand your dilemma. I would definitely take him to task for the rules violations. That's something he has to do right and he put it out there in the open, so it's fair game. The rest ...eh....if he DOES leave, I'd let it be. If he hangs around, it might require a future talk.

And on to FB...
I've had it bite me in the ass, but not from anything work related. First off, I try not to post anything work related on mine, and I hold to some older rules of life, ie, not putting up anything I wouldn't want my mom to see. Yeah, well, I'm not always great at that. But I am conscious that my nephew and other family members are my "friends."
As for the workplace, maybe me and my profession are just weird. Our business is communications -- and we readily use FB for that. If they told us we couldn't FB at work, my executive editor would be the guy most hampered by it. We post links to our stories, to our paper's fan page.
My FB experience started out almost exclusively with co-workers and former co-workers and has grown to family and friends of friends and stuff like that. I love the liberal nature of my co-workers and that I rarely see more than token newpaper bashing (ie, yeah, the industry still sucks right now.) Believe me, when we took a 10 percent pay cut last summer, damn near everyone in the paper posted something in their status. *shrug* But nobody was getting fired over it. The higher ups knew we were getting it without lube.

Definitely a fine line with a lot of things, though. I've found I'm not easily searchable for some reason. Never meant for that, but oh well.