andrewjthomas.net

I really hate articles like this. Sure, this sort of thing has happened before and will continue to happen as long as people over-share (after all, the internet is for narcissism). But where is the opposing view that companies should not respond so harshly? We all need to blow off steam from time to time, and more often now, that happens online. These things have always been said by employees, but they were just broadcast to a much smaller audience (those that happened to be nearby in the physical world) for a shorter, less permanent period of time. The internet has made personal broadcasting fast and easy, and yet expectations of employee conduct have not kept pace with the technology. If I’m on my own time, I have the right to say what I like about my employer, as publicly as I want. Depending on the content, it might deserve a reprimand and a request for reserving harsher criticism for more private channels, but certainly not dismissal. Additionally, “catching” a worker in a lie is disingenuous when you consider how often corporations lie to their employees about far more important things than sick leave (such as salary compensation, upcoming reductions in force, etc.). Basically, I get that people have misconceptions about public vs. private with online content. Goodness knows many people still falsely believe that e-mail constitutes private conversation. And yes, better judgement should be made when discussing anything work-related online, but that doesn’t give companies carte blanche to play Little Big Brother in their workers’ lives.