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Social Networking and Your Job: Lessons from the "Cisco Fatty"
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Tania Khadder
Tania is a writer, blogger, and until very recently, victim of the economic meltdown. She likes indie rock, vodka gimlets, and living in San Francisco. She also likes dancing, but of course, not to indie rock. Tania has a BA in Anthropology from UCLA, and an MA in International Journalism from City University in London.
After being laid off from their jobs in November, Tania and a friend launched Unemploymentality.com where she writes about all things unemployment. When she isn’t writing, she’s spending time with friends and family, obsessively surfing the web, or much to everyone’s annoyance, doing both simultaneously.
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Tania Khadder
March 18, 2009
The internet is buzzing with tales of the latest web 2.0 casualty –the Cisco Fatty. The person who managed to jeopardize a new, high paying job, in 140 characters or less.
After receiving an offer from communications giant Cisco Systems, the jobseeker Twittered about it, telling his followers that although he had been offered a “fatty” paycheck, he wasn’t sure he would be able to endure the commute and “hating the work”.
Soon thereafter, Cisco’s Tim Levad saw the tweet, and responded: “Who is the hiring manager? I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web.”
We don’t know yet how this story ends. We do, however, know that there is a big lesson to be learned here. The same lesson we can take from other, similarly excruciating stories of social networking, and its assault on professionalism.
We all know that these days, the line between work and play is increasingly blurred. And social networking sites are no longer just for extroverted teenagers or tech-savvy college students. Your mom is on Facebook. So, more likely than not, so is your boss. And you can’t exactly ignore his friend request. What you can do is avoid embarrassment, and possible joblessness, by being smart about your online activity.
Nothing is really private
Keep in mind that anything you say online could potentially be seen by your employer. Even if they aren’t a friend or follower, and even if your account is set to private. You never know which one of your contacts is friends with your boss, knows his wife or goes to school with his children. It’s called the Web for a reason. Virtual connections are vast, and they aren’t always transparent. If you wouldn’t want your employer to see it, keep it offline. It’s good practice to just assume that once you’ve put it online, it’s public.
hispanicpuertorican
10 months ago
2 comments
i got a better one...THINK ABOUT THIS (CAUSE THIS REALY HAPPEN TO SOEM OEN I KNOW) we should be careful what our friends in the street,
in school (from pre k to COLLEGE) and every where know about us /and be careful what we tell our friends about our PRIVATE lives, case and point--- i told
some oen my self what town i grew up in..and when they did a search...they came back to me and told me the names of the school i was in (cause i posted on
classmates.com) DUMB ME--now with me knowing that i am careful what i tell my friends and family now...cause if i tell them then it possible it can be found
but i have posted things on the internet USING A DIFFERNT EMAIL ADDRESS (AND IN making the email address, i did not use my real name, or real date of birth
or real city that i was born in) so now that i did that, i can now post thing on line freely---AND IT WONT COME BACK TO ME, BUT REALY becareful what
people know about us...becuase one thing we may not want our 'family' or some friends to know about us...can easly be posted IN SECONDS....ALL THE PERSON
HAVE TO DO IS GET ENOUGH INFORMATION ABOUT THE PERSON THEY WANT TO 'DAMAGE'...GO HOME SPEND 20 MINS MAKING UP THINGS, SAVE IT ON A COMPUTER DISK...GO
TO WHERE THE KNOW THE PERSON IS (LIKE A COLLEGE CAMPUS FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS) AND POST THE THINGS..AND THE SAD TRUTH IS, ITS INFORMATION YOU KNWO ITS TRUE
DONT EVEN JOKE ARROUND AND SAY (I HATE 'MY BOSS') AND FOR YOUR KIDDIES OUT THERE (COLLEGE TOO) DONT SAY SOEMTHING LIKE CAUSE IT CAN COME BACK...AND REM 'YOU SAID IT' WEHRE you keep comments like that to your self, and dont say them when you are
on the job or on college campus thne you know it CANT COME BACK TO 'HAUNT' YOU
robin2009
10 months ago
4 comments
What if a rival seeks revenge on you? Can't someone pose online using your name to destroy your career?
Pattyannr
10 months ago
52 comments
Great article. I wrote something similar on my blog. Social networking and work do not always mix. You need to blog smart.
http://secretaryhelpline.blogspot.com/2008/01/blogging-social-netwo...
kgardner7
10 months ago
2 comments
Thanks for the link Lauren. That was a great supplement to this article.
Kayla
10 months ago
254 comments
This is a hugely important lesson to learn for administrative professionals, especially those in new media or internet companies - NOTHING you do on the web is private! Conduct yourself accordingly and professionally at all times :) Poor guy...
LaurenHoff
10 months ago
2 comments
Check out this opinion, and what the writer uncovered. http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/41777/114/
I think it is important to note that the actions of people on the web were pretty horrible, and borderlined on harassment. Additionally, not many people are addressing the unprofessional manner in which the Cisco employee conducted himself.
jhayward
10 months ago
6 comments
Great article Tania! And it sort of serves the Cisco Fatty right that he almost lost his job. Social networks are powerful tools, if used wisely...but that's just it, if used wisely.