Back To Career News

Think Before You Tweet: It’s All Fun and Games Until Someone Gets Fired

Topics:

You may not think that picture of you three sheets to the wind posted on your Twitter profile would be reason enough for an employer to pass on you as a candidate or to fire you, but it just might be. Or, maybe you thought that no one, especially your boss, would see that tweet you sent out in a fit of rage exclaiming to the world how much your boss and job suck. Spoiler Alert: EVERYONE can view your tweets, if they choose to, so tweet wisely when it comes to your job and your boss. It might just come back to bite you in the you-know-what, like it did for Connor Riley when she lost out on a job opportunity with Cisco before she even started:

See more unfortunate incidents of people getting fired for what they tweeted: Six People Who Got Fired Over a Tweet.

Do You Know What You're Worth?

There’s an App for That – FireMe!

FireMe! is a website that tracks inappropriate tweets from employees complaining about their jobs and/or bosses. Employers are free to search an employee’s Twitter handle and scan any and all unsuitable tweets that person may have posted. The site is an excellent tool for HR to utilize when considering a candidate for a job position to see if he/she has tweeted anything negative about previous employers or bosses. Moreover, HR can utilize FireMe! to monitor employee job satisfaction and use the information gathered to eliminate certain employees that are hurting morale, or use their findings constructively and implement activities or programs that boost morale for the company.

The site separates tweets into one of four categories according to their subject: “Haters,” “Horrible Bosses,” “Sexual Intercourse,” and “Potential Killers.” (That last one is a bit weird, no?)


 

FireMe!’s intent is to bring attention to the fact that tweets are NOT as private as one may think. If you’re willing to publicly post, “I hate my boss!”, then you probably should also be aware of the possibility of being fired or reprimanded for your so-called freedom of speech.

Also, if you’re concerned as to whether you’ve posted anything fire-worthy, then FireMe! also has a feature called “FireMeter” that uses your Twitter handle to scan your feed and produce a score of how likely you are to get fired based on your tweets.

What They Don’t Know Won’t Hurt Them You!

Refrain from throwing caution to the wind and assume that employers don’t have a right to base their hiring or firing decision on what you choose to share on the World Wide Web. Rule of thumb, if you don’t want your current or future employer(s) to see certain aspects of your life, then adjust your privacy settings on your social sites accordingly … or you could just NOT post or tweet potential career-ending content at all.

Remember, don’t let a temporary lapse of judgment leave a permanent dent on your career. Think before you tweet, friends. It’s not worth losing your job or wrecking your reputation over.

Tell Us What You Think

Have you run into an awkward or costly situation because of something you tweeted? Did it get you fired? Let us know on Twitter or in the comments section below. Sharing is caring.

More From PayScale

Your Social Media Updates Can Land or Cost You a Job [infographic]

What to Do When Twitter Snarks Get You Down

Social Media and Work Distractions [infographic]


(Photo credits: Hudson Horizons Website, FireMe! Website, eldh/Flickr)

Leah Arnold-Smeets
Read more from Leah

Leave a Reply

avatar
  Subscribe  
Notify of
What Am I Worth?

What your skills are worth in the job market is constantly changing.