Is it possible for someone to lose their job over something you posted on Facebook five years ago?
The answer to this question is yes.
According to BBC Capital, “One in 10 job seekers between the ages of 16 and 34 have been rejected for a job because of something posted on their profiles, according to a recent survey from London-based mobile research firm On Device Research.”
Many of the newer generations do not know that once something is posted on Facebook or Twitter, it is practically there for life.
Most companies want a positive image. Therefore, when someone is shown licking a stack of taco shells wearing Taco Bell apparel, that is negatively impacting that company. A picture that has been shared thousands of times on both Facebook and Twitter is of the infamous Taco Bell employee licking a stack of shells that was posted onto Taco Bell’s Facebook page.
There has been a trend of different employees from fast food restaurants all over the nation who seem to be taking practical jokes to an entirely new level.
According to Toby Adeboyejo, filmed by CNN, “I’’m not completely sure what’s up with social media nowadays, where everyone posts their bad behavior on Facebook, it’s kind of like, you don’t post that on the internet that’s not a good idea at all.”
Because there was a specific contest going on during that time, the picture itself was acceptable. However, because it was then shared onto the employee’s personal social media account, it violated the franchise’s policies.
Do I believe that because of pictures like this, employees should lose their job? Yes.
When you apply for a specific occupation, you should know that anyone can go online and type your name into Google. Depending on how often your name has appeared in tags, statuses or in pictures, anyone can see what has been posted.
Even prospective high school seniors should be careful as to what they put up online because any school can look up your name and see your activity.
Reckless and unprofessional actions, such as taking a picture of yourself licking food from your place of work and then posting to your personal social media account, is not something that will be spoken lightly about. That picture will be with that employee forever. The only issue with the story is that he made one mistake and now, because of this impractical prank, he will live many years possibly unemployed because no company will want someone as reckless and unprofessional as this employee was.
Stuart MacLennan, The Labor Party in Scotland, was fired because he tweeted offensive slews. According to CNN.com, MacLennan referred to the elderly as “coffin dodgers”, made jokes about slavery and referred to waitresses and waiters as “chavs”, a pejorative term for the working-class youth. Consquentionally, MacLennan was fired from his position.
It is not just silly high school and college students being fired. These are people who have worked hard all their lives and make one seemingly insignificant mistake. But by posting something viewed as innappropriate on their personal social accounts, thousands of employees have been fired.
No matter how many privacy settings you use on your accounts, there are still ways that companies can get around these obstacles to learn just exactly what you are posting. The moral of the story is that everyone really needs to be careful about what they are posting online.
