Now, we’ve warned our readers many times on this site that what you write on Facebook can very likely come back and bite you in the behind. And that includes getting yourself fired from your job.
Facebook and other social media gateways that allow people to peer into our lives may seem like they’ve been around for a while now, but in the grand scheme of things, they really haven’t. A fact that is clearly evident in the knowledge that we’re still very much still climbing the learning curve on how to use these sites correctly – something made much harder by the fact that the sites themselves are evolving so quickly. It seems that we are always in a relentless state of catch-up mode.
Something that we really need to get our heads around is that what we post on these sites from the apparent safety of a keyboard has real world ramifications. Michael Nolan has learnt this the hard way after he commented on a Facebook post from feminist columnist Clementine Ford, calling her a s**t.
Ford, apparently not the person to take such comments likely, posted a message on her page speculating as to whether Meriton Apartments – Nolan’s employer (yes Nolan’s employer was public on his profile) were aware that they employed a man who liked to “leave comments on women’s facebook pages calling them s***”
Well, if they weren’t, they soon would be, since Ford tagged Meriton Apartments into that same post. The post also contained a screenshot of Nolan’s ill-advised comment as well as two more screenshots showing Nolan liking or sharing racist jokes.
Long story short, Meriton Apartments soon contacted Ford letting her know that Nolan had been let go from the company. According to The Daily Mail, Nolan responded that he didn’t “give a damn” about the unfolding events.
We’re inclined to take that with a pinch of salt.
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The issue this raises is that social media can intimately amalgamate both our personal lives and our professional lives together by allowing us to act as representatives for the businesses we work for on a massive public platform, whether the business likes it or not. Regardless of whether an employee is or isn’t an official spokesperson for a company, or if their opinions or actions are not officially representative of the company, employees still possess the capability to damage a company’s reputation.
This is why many businesses now require their employees sign disclaimers concerning their use of social media that effectively say don’t be an idiot on social media or we’ll fire you.
However employees are still not getting it.
What do we recommend? Regardless of how you choose to use social media, for most we recommend NOT listing your employer on Facebook, certainly not publicly. This is because even if you think your actions are justified, your employer may not. Many users will – at some point – get into heated arguments over social media, ‘like’ moderately racist or sexist jokes, follow questionable pages, share controversial posts or even get our accounts compromised and start sending out spam.
Given that, do you really want to give Facebook users an easy way to complain about you to the people who employ you?
Of course this advice is not for everyone. Certain people use Facebook and other social media websites as a marketing tool, to promote their company or to use it with an emphasis on their professional lives. Of course most of these users will already be acutely aware that this is their professional front, and will moderate their actions on social media accordingly.
For the rest of us, if you don’t feel like you have that ability, leave the employer field blank.