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Facebook firings

Posted on Nov 17, 2009 in Opinion

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At a computer? Good. Do a quick Google search of “Facebook firings,” just so we can get on the same page about an issue that’s really been a rock in my shoe lately.

Not at a computer? Then why are you still reading?

I assume it’s because you think I’m going to explain the issue for you anyway, whether you brush up on your research or not. I guess you’re correct; I’m no person to condemn laziness. Whenever I’m too lazy to even cook dinner, I order a pizza, and then ask the delivery guy if he can stop by Wal-Mart and pick me up a few things.

Okay, here’s my issue:

Like any upwardly mobile, flesh-and-blood creature of the 21st century, I have a Facebook page. What I love about Facebook is that it’s a quick outlet to express yourself through status updates to tell everybody what you’re up to that day or to vent about things that are bothering you, as the young British subject of our first Google hit did:

“OMG I hate my job!! My boss is a total pervvy (sic) wanker…WANKER!”

This 16-year-old Facebooker’s status has become the poster child of a new trend that’s snowballing like a Himalayan avalanche. Shortly after the post, her boss — who she had probably added as a friend and forgotten about — promptly exploded into a full blown diatribe of abuse in her comment box that ended with “don’t bother coming in tomorrow…I’m serious.”

Ouch.

Back here in the States, we have further instances of folks simply using their Facebook pages for a quick rant — and paying dearly for it.

In North Carolina, one teacher was suspended for saying that she taught in “the most ghetto school in the district.” Following her suspension, a local TV network looked up the profiles of other teachers in the district, finding four that contained suggestive themes like “drinking” listed in the “About Me” fields and somewhat “provocative” poses in their photo albums. Those teachers were subsequently suspended.

It doesn’t stop there. In a study done this year by an Internet security firm, 8 percent of companies with more than 1,000 employees reported having dismissed someone for behavior on social networking sites.

8 percent! It doesn’t sound like much, but if I showed you a pumpkin pie, and gave you a slice representing that 8 percent, you’d probably think it was a fair helping. You most likely couldn’t finish it all in one bite.

Let’s go back to Google. You’ll probably notice that our quick “Facebook firings” search yielded a lot of blogs that have their own say-so in the matter of social networking delinquency, and “what you should put on your Facebook or Myspace page that is perfectly acceptable and won’t get you sacked.” I don’t really wish to add to it all here. That rhetoric is like an episode of “Matlock” — you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.

What I’d rather like to do is take this “Facebook responsibility” advice, wad it up in one big pile, and throw it into the proverbial bonfire.

These blogs are in the business of attacking online ranters who have come under scrutiny in the workplace, calling them “dumb” and “miscreants,” when all they really did was express their human opinions — however offensive or telling they may have been — in a world outside their professional lives.

Facebook serves a terrific purpose. It allows us to connect with friends and gather empathy concerning the things that nag us. But some people abuse it, using it as a kind of omnipresent utility, kind of like the invisibility cloak in “Harry Potter.”

The folks who use the Internet to keep tabs on their employees outside the office are confused about cyberspace versus the real world, forgetting the simple fact that they are professional adults, paid to monitor the on-the-clock performance of flesh-and-blood humans and not to go crying in a comment box every time they find out an employee is not entirely satisfied with their vocation.

It’s a form of laziness, really. I guess some people are more comfortable figuring out the thoughts of people by proxy rather than just talking to them.

You decide. Like I said before, I’m no one to judge laziness. Heck, when I want to wash my car, I throw a bunch of soap on it and wait for rain.

Email: diner822@yahoo.com

 




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