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Some people are stupid. You know this, right? I mean, all of us can think of a handful of dumb people in our lives. So, this post isn’t a lecture. It’s not a “don’t do this”, warning post. What we have here today is simply you, me, and countless others laughing at someone’s stupid use of social media.
I’ve been finding myself on lamebook.com often these days, and sometime last week I came across this excruciatingly beautiful Facebook failure. Check out the image below… I’ll dig into poor Lindsay under the picture…
Poor stupid Lindsay, you’ve given me so much material to play with here. I don’t even know where or how to begin, in fact I’m kind of disappointed in myself (sigh). When all else fails, I turn to lists. Here is the “Dumb Things That Lindsay Did” list.
- Dumb #1 – “OMG I HATE MY JOB!!” You never know who’s watching, so say only good things about your job on social media.
- Dumb #2 – Attacking anyone through social media is dumb.
- Dumb #3 – Attacking your boss through social media is dumber.
- Dumb #4 – Forgetting your boss is a friend on Facebook and then doing Dumb #1 and Dumb #3 is the dumbest.
I’m not all up to date on the latest Facebook privacy bullshit I keep hearing about, but it seems intense. If anyone wants to fill me in, that would be super. In the mean time, I think we all know to stay clear from just about everything Lindsay has done.
What are your thoughts on Lindsay? Have you seen anyone else perform a similar act? Seriously, what’s going on with privacy on Facebook?
Pretend you’re the employer. How do you handle this situation? Do you override the decision to fire Lindsay? What about the manager? What do you do?
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Comments
06.02.10
Dumb move indeed, but at least she is now out of a job she didn't like. That probably wasn't the smartest way for her to exit the position, but it did the trick and now she and her employer are better off (and hopefully she learned a lesson in the process).
06.02.10
I haven't seen anybody else do this, but I've definitely heard about Lindsay from a few different sources (http://bit.ly/dKuF8). My hope is that we'll see this less and less as people get more educated on the openness of Social Media.
People need to be careful. When I was working my first entry-level job and blogging about my career journey I got misquoted by a Wall Street Journal reporter who printed an article saying that I hated my job. I was lucky that I was well liked by my managers and didn't get fired, but that was a close one!
The moral of the story is that even when you have good intentions things can go horribly, horribly wrong. Be careful!
06.02.10
I agree that this young woman's post on Facebook was out of line. I also think that her boss' retort was similarly misplaced, but I can't pretend to know British culture and so it could be perfectly acceptable.
At the same time, it's probably not a good idea to convey absolutely no sense of sensitivity on a public site - particularly a social career site such as this one - when you're listing Human Resources as a specialty.
I apologize, honestly, if this seems like a personal attack. Not my intent to harm, only to help.
06.02.10
That's pretty damn scary, Ryan.
06.02.10
@James - I hope she learnd, and also, I hope her boss was warned or fired. His response, while funny, wasn't the best press for the company as well.
@Ryan - Like most things on the internet, I found out about this late. When I saw it on Lamebook I had to write about it, but it seems 100's of people beat me to it.
You make a good point. Things can go wrong quickly, even when intentions are good.
06.02.10
I have been seriously contemplating dumping my Facebook account. I just don't think I'm narcissistic enough to want to tell people that I just got up, or just got out of the bathroom, or I just went somewhere fairly routine, like the grocery store. While I like to be able to connect with family, friends and the like, I find it to be a love/hate relationship quite honestly.
The whole privacy matter is rather interesting. We are in unchartered territory. I don't like that employers or potential employers could be sniffing around for this stuff to use against you (which is why my profile is locked down). We have different personalities, different sides of us that we show at work, at home, with friends and at play. I like to be spontaneous and enjoy off-the-wall humor. If you don't know me well, you'd think I was missing the plastic thingy holding the six pack together sometimes. But, I enjoy making people laugh, helping them to loosen up in a world that can be awfully constricted at times.
When I'm at work, I stay loose but always professional. Do I have to be at work and permanently under review 24/7? Or do I need to focus on creating a work environment that is just as nutty as me? :) :)
06.02.10
@BJP - "When I'm at work, I stay loose but always professional. Do I have to be at work and permanently under review 24/7? Or do I need to focus on creating a work environment that is just as nutty as me?" -- Share your feelings. At my current gig, I'm one of 3 (maybe 4 soon). I'm the youngest, so I try to keep things light and fun. I don't want to be in corporate mode 24/7. I need to relax on my time off.
06.02.10
I usually completely avoid talking about the "work place". My field is a different story; I like posting things up about my general field of work. In many ways it's a total rookie mistake, and one I'm sure we've all learned from. I echo Ryan in saying that yes, people need to get educated about social media and the possible consequences of their actions.
06.03.10
@BJP - Some have definitely dropped FB. Im keeping it. If i write something that people don't like, then that's ok. I just keep it professional when it comes to anything work related.
@Mehnaz - Posting generalities should be OK of course. I think that its smart to do things like that... microblogging in a way... Just the "hate my job" and "pervy wanker" is a bit extreme. Folks like you and I, and all of our buds know to keep those thigns clear, but I really feel the casual social media users have no idea what they are doing sometimes.
06.03.10
I NEVER post anything about my workplace in social networking sites..
and yes, I do not give my personal blog to every other colleague.
Yes, I do have private/ anonymous blog and you are not welcome to prey or judge me from what I post there :-)
06.04.10
#1 Rule don't put anything in writing... Unless it's a contract. But you get what I am saying. I think people forget that just because they are alone in their room behind the computer screen that there are millions upon millions of people who can see them.
06.04.10
P.S. Here is one of my favorite quotes "The fact that people are stupid doesn't surprise me it's the level of stupidity that suprises me." ~ Raquel Elle Bell
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