Fired for Myspace Account
Most of us have at least one page on a social network site such as MySpace. Stories of people getting fired because of the content of their social networking pages are becoming more frequent in the news. A potential employer or co-worker could be looking you up on the Internet right now. Use common sense and don't put anything on the Internet that you don't want your company to see. Below are some common things that may get you fired.
1. Pornography: Don't post nude pictures of yourself or anyone else on your page. Also refrain from waxing poetic about male or female anatomy, and avoid discussion of sexual conquests.
2. Your company's logo and slogan: These items are company owned, and cannot be posted without permission.
3. Complaints about your boss or co-workers: Don't depend on private passwords to protect you. You never know who may get to see what you've posted. Even though you may consider this an invasion of privacy, the Internet is a public place.
4. Pictures of you engaging in illegal activity: Smoking pot, underage drinking parties, etc. Use basic common sense. If you wouldn't want your mom to see it, don't post it.
5. Company policies or information: Most material of this kind is considered proprietary information.
6. Racism, sexism, and other politically incorrect isms: You're risking your personal and professional character. You have the right to speak your mind, yes, but that doesn't mean you'll keep your job.
7. Stories of treating co-workers or customers poorly: You may have some doozies, but again, it's your character on the line. Your company expects a certain level of professionalism from you.
8. "I'm supposed to be working": Avoid references to surfing the net or blogging on work time. You're just begging to be caught by the I.T. department.
9. Excessive cursing: Again, this is a character issue. You need to be able to express yourself with words other than curse words.
10. Unfavorable attitude towards your job: Don't refer to your job as boring, stupid, pointless, etc. Your employers may do you the service of giving you something more exciting, like trying to find a new job in today's market.
Really, you just need to use common sense. If you want to record your private thoughts, write it the old-fashioned way in a diary. Have a co-worker over for a cup of coffee and complain away. But don't consider a public network as your private property. You need to portray yourself as a person of good moral character to current and perspective employers, co-workers and customers. If you wouldn't say it, show it, or portray it at work, don't post it!
