A question about Facebook

[Astoria]

So I was watching The Morning Show this morning and surprise surprise the topic of Facebook came up. The story started off by saying how a guy got busted faking sick on facebook and got fired and then finished by saying another girl got fired simply because she said that her work was becoming boring.

My question to you escapists is do you think it's fair to be punished at work for things you've said on facebook? I personally think you shouldn't. Being fired for saying your work is boring is rediculous in my opinion. I think the guy who got busted was fairly fired but only because the reason was that he had lied about being sick and got caught, not because he'd posted on facebook.

Also how much do you think teacher should intervene when it comes to facebook. Last year my boyfriend got dragged into the assistant principles office with some friends for liking a comment that was an insult directed at someone else and threatened with detention. While I understand that teachers want to stop bullying this I think was a massive overreaction. It was a one time thing and was meant to be more of a joke than something harmful. When it comes to facebook I feel that the only time the teachers shuld step in with punishments is if the bullying is a constant thing or if a student has admitted to doing something against the school rules. I believe the same about work, that a person should only be punished if they are harrassing another member of staff or are admitting to doing something against the works policies. If any of this is unclear sorry about that. Just let me know and I'll try to make it clearer.

So escapist what's your view on this? Should teachers and employers be allowed to punish you for what you say on Facebook or do you think it's none of their business?

 

[wasalp]

Well part of the blame should be given to the employees who added their boss or didn't put the right privacy measures. As for the school bullying, they have no right to intervene unless they have proof this happened during a school day(at the school).

edit: my opinion.

 

[burningdragoon]

well getting busted for lying skipping work with no reason seems pretty fair, though I doubt it was a first offense if that's the case. Getting fired for saying work is boring is a little extreme. I mean, I've said work is boring to coworkers (read: not superiors) in person... at work, so that's extreme.

The problem with more personal stuff is the lack of context, tone, etc, but otherwise, yeah, I think some consequences to some instances can be appropriate.

As far as getting in trouble from facebook in a general sense goes, I think it's fine. It is/has become a public thing and if you don't treat as such (aka set privacy or just not have things on facebook you don't want certain people to see) then that is your fault.

 

[Saelune]

What happens out side of work and school should not have any impact on them since its out of their jurisdiction. Unless they are saying they are going to burn down their job/school, but thats more of a police matter.

 

[Urgh76]

I remember my cousin being pissed at something concerning the Phillies (I really dont know, I think they traded someone or sumthin) and he used "Fuck" in his status.

The next day his SISTER got called in because of it.

I find it even more so ridiculous that if affects siblings as well, however, we ourselves cant just write whatever the hell we want (well we kinda can, BUT THATS NOT THE POINT)

 

[Psycho Cat Industries]

Eh,what people do is done and if people are dumb enough to do it on Facebook,more power to the prosecutor.

 

[Psycho Cat Industries]

I remember my cousin being pissed at something concerning the Phillies (I really dont know, I think they traded someone or sumthin) and he used "Fuck" in his status.

The next day his SISTER got called in because of it.

I find it even more so ridiculous that if affects siblings as well, however, we ourselves cant just write whatever the hell we want (well we kinda can, BUT THATS NOT THE POINT)

That I must admit is pretty stupid.Is Hitler's sister the genocider?lol

 

[TheSchizoid]

First let me say that Facebook is the tool of the Devil and it would take a flippin' miracle to get me to sign up. (If I needed to make a page for business purposes, that's an entirely different story.)

Second, the liar? Fired. Dumbass. The bored girl? Yeah, a little extreme there. The sister? Overly extreme. Thing is, going after #2 and #3 are, sadly, legitimate. It's like people being fired for being too fat because it's a drain on the company's health insurance. Unless these people had private pages, everyone who knows them knows where they work and any good lawyer will consider "I'm bored here at work" defamation towards the company. Also, the word "FUCK" may have been posted on someone else's page, it showed up on the page of the employee and therefore makes her subject to scrutiny by her employer's legal hounds.

It's sad how people don't understand that posting on Facebook/talking on cell phones/tweeting is no different than having a conversation in public. Anyone can listen in and learn things you didn't want them to know. Watch what you type. Watch what you say. This way, nothing comes back to bite you in the ass and you'll be okay.

 

[Manicotti]

First let me say that Facebook is the tool of the Devil and it would take a flippin' miracle to get me to sign up. (If I needed to make a page for business purposes, that's an entirely different story.)

Second, the liar? Fired. Dumbass. The bored girl? Yeah, a little extreme there. The sister? Overly extreme. Thing is, going after #2 and #3 are, sadly, legitimate. It's like people being fired for being too fat because it's a drain on the company's health insurance. Unless these people had private pages, everyone who knows them knows where they work and any good lawyer will consider "I'm bored here at work" defamation towards the company. Also, the word "FUCK" may have been posted on someone else's page, it showed up on the page of the employee and therefore makes her subject to scrutiny by her employer's legal hounds.

It's sad how people don't understand that posting on Facebook/talking on cell phones/tweeting is no different than having a conversation in public. Anyone can listen in and learn things you didn't want them to know. Watch what you type. Watch what you say. This way, nothing comes back to bite you in the ass and you'll be okay.

I remember the bored-girl getting busted story. The truly ridiculous thing is that the girl made no mention of where she worked anywhere on her page or in the offending status, or anything about the place other than that her current task (in inventory, as in moving stacks of paper around) was "boring lol." Despite all the work they had to do cross-referencing her just to find her post, someone at that company clearly has no concept of irony (and I think it sank later), because they did infinitely more damage to their reputation for firing this girl than they would have minded what was actually their own business.