Can Twitter Get You Fired?

Can you get fired using Twitter? Yes you can. There are two way you can get fired using Twitter or any Web 2.0 service for that mater:

• Tweeting @ Work: You can indeed get fired for tweeting at work, and there is no way really to hide it. If you think that you can cover up your monitor and nobody will find out, then you are mistaken. If you use Twitter heavily at work, there is a good chance that your IT will see the outgoing traffic, and they will notify you and your boss about your situation. If you can explain it away, then there will be no issues. But if your job has nothing to do with Web 2.0, twitter, or anything close to that, then you can get reprimanded or fired.
• Status Tweeting: I had a friend who got fired for using Twitter to show what he was doing during a particular day which he was supposed to be sick. He had this whole twitter thing going on from the beach. Sure enough, the employer checked the twitter account and called him up the same day to fire him. I know it’s cruel, but if you lie about your situation to your employer, then anything is fair game. I never get why people need to update their status on Twitter or FaceBook when they are clearly lying. Not that I condone lying to your employer, but if you must, then go do your thing, and don’t put it on FaceBook or Twitter. These sites are public places and there is a good chance people will find out what you are doing there, and you could get in trouble.

When it comes to using the social networking sites, don’t disclose anything that you don’t want to and you don’t have to. Once you put something up on Twitter and people see it, you may not be able to take it back! I did that once on my GTalk and I learned my lesson the hardway.

LinkedIn or FaceBook?

Which challen do you use? Both LinkedIn and FaceBook are excellent avenues for networking. But I am interested to know which one do you like the best and for what purpose you are using it. Networking, dating, partnerships, … Please share your comments here.

FaceBook Means Business

So what’s wrong with having the ability to poke your friends with a knife (digital knife)? No harm no foul, right? Wrong! Facebook showed today that they mean business as they killed an application that allowed users to superpoke their friends with a knife. I am not going to argue whether FaceBook is right or wrong here. There is a good lesson here for all of us to learn. Social networks are public places, and whatever you do there can be seen by employers, colleagues, and your enemies. So if you are a politician and are having an affair, you don’t change your marital status to complicated from married as you sure going to get some coverage for doing that. That’s an extreme example but do not use Facebook to:

You may try to hide your identity and do the above things, but if a connection is found between you and these comments, you can pretty much kiss your future goodbye. And you can be prosecuted to the full extend of law for harassing others on the Internet, so don’t think for a second that FaceBook is a playground that anything goes. Play it safe and avoid nasty surprises.

SMOABC Has Just Launched!

We have just launched. It took us a while but we are finally ready to roll. Our goal is to bring the latest news and tips on how to use and manage social media as an acquisitions and PR tool. We are also working on a few social media optimizations tools that will be released for free in the near future. So stay tuned!