View Full Version : A cautionary tale: Facebook, current coworkers, and former coworkers
I think I'm beginning to rival Zoegirl for the number of posts about work-related things!;)
Nice, eventful day at work. It's like a soap opera! Two people fired today. Let's just say that after this, my long-standing rule about not befriending current OR former coworkers on FB is a very good idea, as well as my tendency to NOT hang around with coworkers, become friends with them. Let's just say these two folks had very divided loyalties and rather crappy business ethics, and leave it at that.
Some folks are unable to draw the line between work and personal stuff, passed info they shouldn't have (very sensitive business info), and well, they made a bad decision.
It is all about setting boundaries and I have to confess that I learned about this later in life than I should have. I am very careful to do so today.
iris lily
4-21-12, 11:09am
Not about this, but I remember reading an online chat list where people who posted on their work time bad mouthed their workplace. I was thinking "just how dumb ARE these people?" And I kid you not when I say that some of their posts had to do with the lack of respect they got at work. hum.
I think that the moral is: some people can be really clueless online and otherwise.:D
sweetana3
4-21-12, 12:50pm
It is easy to get caught up in the gossip culture of some workplaces or some groups within larger workplaces. It is hard to stay above it all and professional.
I noticed that those that got ahead stayed out of it.
gimmethesimplelife
4-21-12, 10:56pm
I think this one can cut both ways - for myself I have befriended a lot of people I formerly worked with in the national parks and am able to keep in touch with them easily and get some job leads though them and also give them some job advice too. That is the good side of it. Then there is a dark side that I have recently experienced - someone I once worked with at the North Rim posted that they were starting a petition to have no Rob at the North Rim this season. Gotta say that didn't hurt but it really bummed me out as there were others I thought I was on fairly good terms with who liked this post and still others who went on to say some pretty nasty things about me. I don't know how or why but about 24 hours after I discovered it, this post on facebook was no longer there and two people I consider good friends pm'ed me and said they were very sorry that happened.....I guess I found out who my friends from the North Rim (my summer seasonal job for the past two summers) were and who to delete......but it was not pleasant and I can see why for younger people Facebook bullying is such a big deal. Rob
I'll add my 2 cents. I cannot BELIEVE what a former co worker of mine did the other day.
She went on FB and posted "I hate my job. Tell me why I should stay here. My DH has a good job." At least one of her coworkers is on FB, but she "trusts him" because he's "on her side." She's been there FIVE months!
I might add: She was fired from her last job and was out of work for more than 3 years. Why was she fired? Nobody knows, but she had a certain lack of discretion and would tell everyone who would listen (even the cleaning people and the student workers) her business.
fidgiegirl
4-24-12, 8:46am
I think this one can cut both ways - for myself I have befriended a lot of people I formerly worked with in the national parks and am able to keep in touch with them easily and get some job leads though them and also give them some job advice too. That is the good side of it. Then there is a dark side that I have recently experienced - someone I once worked with at the North Rim posted that they were starting a petition to have no Rob at the North Rim this season. Gotta say that didn't hurt but it really bummed me out as there were others I thought I was on fairly good terms with who liked this post and still others who went on to say some pretty nasty things about me. I don't know how or why but about 24 hours after I discovered it, this post on facebook was no longer there and two people I consider good friends pm'ed me and said they were very sorry that happened.....I guess I found out who my friends from the North Rim (my summer seasonal job for the past two summers) were and who to delete......but it was not pleasant and I can see why for younger people Facebook bullying is such a big deal. Rob
How thoroughly poor!! Really sorry you had to go through that. Glad for you, like you say, that you can focus on the people you know to be your friends. :(
iris lily
4-24-12, 10:46am
Rob, that's awful, egad. Jr High. Doncha wanna go back there? not.
I'll add my 2 cents. I cannot BELIEVE what a former co worker of mine did the other day.
She went on FB and posted "I hate my job. Tell me why I should stay here. My DH has a good job." At least one of her coworkers is on FB, but she "trusts him" because he's "on her side." She's been there FIVE months!
I might add: She was fired from her last job and was out of work for more than 3 years. Why was she fired? Nobody knows, but she had a certain lack of discretion and would tell everyone who would listen (even the cleaning people and the student workers) her business.
I know. I have a relative who is on FB with me and she has posted about problems at her job a few times with some of her other FB friends who are obviously coworkers commenting on her posts. Not smart at all. She's a PA at a medical practice and while none of this has to do with patients, I can see this eventually coming back to bite.
How thoroughly poor!! Really sorry you had to go through that. Glad for you, like you say, that you can focus on the people you know to be your friends. :(
That is awful. I am sure hoping you don't have to do another season there. Between all the work related stress you have reported and now knowing this about some of your coworkers I can't imagine going back there if you can avoid it.
jennipurrr
4-24-12, 11:58am
Oh Rob, those people are cruel! I really hate nasty people like that...sorry that happened to you.
I have some coworkers and former coworkers on FB. I have been able to keep in touch with some coworkers I was friends with after we no longer worked together that way. I have a great friend, who used to be my boss, who I have kept in touch with over FB and we get together when she is in town. I would hate to miss out on that friendship because I had a strict "no coworkers as friends" rule. I think being professional at all times while you work together is of utmost importance even if you are friends outside of work. But, most of the friends I do things with on a regular basis (I wanted to say closest friends, but not necessarily, not closer than people I've known for a long time, but close in that we get together a lot) are from work. I have a few outside interests, like animal rescue and my grad school program, but other than those work is mainly how I have met friends.
I did have a former classmate and coworker who I considered a friend outside of work. She had actually come to work here after I started and we had known each other long before that. Her husband was fired with cause and she quit and deleted all her work friends off FB, obviously she was angry about what happened to her husband, but I wondered if that wasn't burning some bridges. He has an alcohol problem and I wondered if one day she would be coming back here if she ever left him and now all these people aren't going to be especially friendly since she deleted them off FB, but that is just me wondering in a gossipy sort of way.
I try to connect with everyone I work with on Linked In. It is like professional FB. I did that at my previous employer when I left, and then several months later my entire former department was laid off, so everyone scattered. Now, I have a lot of connections professionally all over should I be looking for a new job in the field at some point. A couple of former coworkers have contacted me through Linked In about openings at my employer and I am happy to discuss with them.
What essentially was the problem with the situation in my original post: the people who were fired had very close personal ties other former employees of my company. These former employees of my company went to work for a direct competitor, one owned by a former OWNER of my company. The just-fired people were passing sensitive internal info, concerning current customers, pricing, and finances. The competion is very fierce, and personal loyalty has shown to be more important than good business ethics. There is much more to this, but I don't need to go into more details.
ApatheticNoMore
4-24-12, 3:16pm
Yea don't post about work on Facebook under you real name. Rant about work on the internet only anonymously :)
Yea don't post about work on Facebook under you real name. Rant about work on the internet only anonymously :)
You got it! :)
My employer says not to post information about my work on Facebook or other social networks. I don't, even though many colleagues do. I am Facebook friends with some co-workers and former bosses, not current ones.
Agree with ApathethicNoMore and Tradd about posting on anonymous sites such as this one.
I'll post stuff about work - how it's crazy busy or a day's gone bad (general stuff like that) or how I'm training people, but I don't have where I work on my Facebook profile, plus nearly everyone doesn't know just exactly (as in the company name) where I work. Only one friend actually remembers, and he just happens to be in a different aspect of my industry (we found out about the connection AFTER we were friends). So, I'm safe there. And everything is very locked down.
Anonymous sites like this are where I really let loose! ;-)
Bastelmutti
4-25-12, 9:14am
Anonymous is relative. People can put two and two together from seemingly anonymous facts. So, OK, it's unlikely your employer would follow you here. But I worked on a project team last year with someone with whom I had previously had contact through this forum - total coincidence! Luckily our interactions had always been positive. You never know!
gimmethesimplelife
4-25-12, 12:08pm
That is awful. I am sure hoping you don't have to do another season there. Between all the work related stress you have reported and now knowing this about some of your coworkers I can't imagine going back there if you can avoid it.Thanks saguaro and everyone else for your concern - no I am not going back.....For starters my mom is not 100% able to live on her own just yet - but is still recovering from her surgery, and I am committed to staying here another two months as I am helping a friend of the family who has late stage Parkinson's have some dental work done - getting him off to appointments on Mondays for seven weeks starting May 7th. When this is done, and if my mom can be left alone, I will probably apply for mid season jobs and would hope to get into Mt Rainier perhaps.....Rob
jennipurrr
4-25-12, 1:45pm
When this is done, and if my mom can be left alone, I will probably apply for mid season jobs and would hope to get into Mt Rainier perhaps.....Rob
I loved Mt Rainer as a tourist, hopefully it will be just as wonderful to work there!
Rob if you end up at Rainier definitely let us know! I'm still not sure if I'll be going back for a visit home for the summer, but if we do I'd love to come by and leave you an enormous tip! :)
I have two Facebook profiles -- one for professional purposes and one for personal. But I would never post negative comments about my workplace (other than the usual "oh lord what a day!" kind of stuff) on either. You just never know. I am more open here, but as someone noted above, the illusion of privacy that posting under a pseudonym gives you only goes so far. I have revealed enough about myself here that anyone who knows me and has two brain cells could figure out who I am. So I try to keep comments about my current workplace general and positive, and reserve the complaining for my old gig, which was truly horrible (something everyone who knows me in real life knows very well -- most people were amazed I stayed as long as I did...).
lhamo
Well, here is a CNN report on the repercussions of badmouthing your "boss" on Facebook: in this case, the Commander-in-Chief, by a Marine who was given an "other-than-honorable" discharge, whatever that means.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/25/us/marine-obama/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
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