I just read an account of a waiter in LA who tweeted an experience where he got stiffed on a bill from a celebrity. Even though he apparently had less than two dozen followers, he got fired.
From that link you can find his blog, and a post from him about what “really happened.” On that blog post you’ll find language that really makes him out to be the victim. He indicates he didn’t really understand Twitter, or powerful it was.
Here’s the bottom line: he did something wrong. He was trying to get a job (or, crack into the acting business in LA) and he completely dissed someone who could have been a major influencer – all over an incident that was worth less than $15.
In the post he still sounds like a victim.
Would you do that? After you interview, even if you felt it went wrong, or when you try and network your way into a company, would you diss the person who you are trying to work with, or who might be an influencer?
Not in person, to their face, right?
Well, don’t do it online!
Seriously, we shouldn’t even have to talk about this, but I see it again and again and again. People put stupid stuff on their “private” (notice the quotes) Facebook Profile or Wall, and then it ends up hurting them – from jail time to getting fired. Facebook is NOT private.
We’ve seen this on Twitter – people write some off-the-cuff, quick thought… and they end up finding their tweet and their story (the bad part) on a newspaper or website or blog… not good!
LinkedIn is a safe place, right? WRONG. I just read Steve Tylock’s post about people putting secret company information (projects they are working on that their competition SHOULD NOT know about) on their Profile. That was pretty significant competitive intelligence… !
It comes down to common sense – it’s better to not share everything (unless of course you get paid for the shock factor – but most of us don’t), or anything sensitive… please, use common sense and realize there is not online social platform that is private, yours, or completely safe.
And at the end of the day, even if you feel like a victim, blaming others is not going to help you get out of the whole you dug yourself into.
