When Justine Sacco tweeted before a long-haul flight to South Africa in 2003, she didn't think anything of it. Her twitter following was approximately 170 people, most who knew her personally. Her misguided tweet blew up over Twitter, cost her her job and marked her as a racist.
This story is a profound cautionary tale about using Social Media. In this new landscape where people post personal thoughts publicly, where everyone records every minutia of life makes you wonder if there is any privacy left at all.
We experience this loss of privacy the most when it comes to employment. We unintentionally represent our employers in our social media; especially if we display our workplace or post while wearing work uniforms.
Hiring and Social Media
Employers are using the internet and social media to determine if candidates are a good fit for the job. A search can reveal your professional credentials, job philosophy, maturity, use of drugs and alcohol and other red flags. It can also be used to discriminate based on age, race, religion as well although our Human Rights code should prevent this from happening.
Professional Boundary Crossing
A Saskatchewan nurse expressed concern over her grandfather's care in a nursing home and got dismissed for professional misconduct. A teacher was on vacation in Dublin and posted pictures of her drinking and got fired.
Personal posts and opinions should not get you fired but there have been cases where this has happened. Be aware of how your posts will look to others in your industry, especially your customers.
Communication on behalf of an organization
As a communicator, Social Media can be a double-edged sword. You are there to build your company's brand and presence. This can happen through insightful posts, reposting curated content and timely responses. If you are in charge of your work place's Social media accounts, take extra care before you post. Kate Nash managed the Frederick County Public Schools' social media accounts. After a student wrote, "close school tammarow PLEASE." She replied, "but then how would you learn to spell tomorrow?" Kate had to delete her reply, apologize to the student and then was dismissed shortly after.
What should you do?
Social Media is here to stay and can be a way to highlight you and the University's accomplishments. It is powerful if used positively. This is just a reminder to be aware of what you post. Read up on your SFU's social media policies, and use common sense. Do not post how much you hate your job, save that for private conversations. Post, but do so with the understanding that it's for public consumption.
Resources
https://careers.workopolis.com/advice/6-people-wh…
https://abcnews.go.com/International/woman-fired-…
https://www.workplacefairness.org/social-network-…
http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3375
https://resources.workable.com/social-media-compa…
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/srna-…
https://www.themuse.com/advice/can-social-media-g…
https://www.thetalko.com/16-photos-posted-to-soci…
http://www.sfu.ca/olc/blog/csi-blog/how-social-me…