Work owns me and my words 24/7

[DeltaSierra]

The best suggestion I have is - never add people you work with to your FB accounts. OR, have a separate FB account that is just for work, and don't post anything that could be taken negatively on that account.

[Andara Bledin]

I have quite a few co-workers in my Facebook list.

I also make a point of never posting anything particularly inflammatory (and never anything notable related to work) there. Even the private stuff isn't, so it's not worth the potential headache.

^-.-^

[KiaKat]

I almost never post anything about work to FB or Twitter.

The exception being a request for job referrals that I recently posted on Twitter, hoping that maybe one of my industry contacts knows of something.

[Beisbolica]

Had a situation at work a while back where co-worker "Kelly" said Very Bad Things about co-worker "Fran" on FB. "Fran" was devastated by this and cried endlessly and wanted "Kelly" disciplined harshly.

Unfortunately, nothing could really be done because "Kelly" hadn't broken any explicit rules.

My point is this: If you're crabbing about your co-workers on the internet, don't be surprised if there are repercussions. God knows I have worked with some real a-holes, but you're better off not broadcasting your displeasure.

[JLG]

I have deleted comments on facebook and twitter.

Like I said this is a really good lesson I did learn. I have cut out talking about work at all with anybody that I work with. I have many friends that are co-workers and I told them that work is no longer a part of any discussions with me. I want to play it safe.

I was naive and stupid to think that facebook and twitter was a free for all when it came to my rants about work.

When we got new management 2 years ago a lot of things went down hill and I started this rampage about work. Now I see that I can change things and the way I went about it was no help and made it worse.

I have a co-worker that is also a friend. She calls me EVERY DAY when I am not there to complain about so many things. She even called me EVERY DAY on my week vacation to bitch about whatever she could think of that bothered her. She even calls me on days that we work together if one of us leaves before the other.

Last week it was her birthday so a few of us went to dinner and all she talked about was work and how pissed off she is at everyone there for the stupid stuff they do.

I don't hate my job. But it appears that way because I let all the negative stuff get to me without trying to change it. It sucks that I got written up twice but if I did not then I would not have stopped and realized what I was doing.


You are never to old in life to learn a valuable lesson.

[wolfie]

I once had a boss that wanted to instill in us the habit of reading everything we signed. He would insert random things into the employee paperwork and if we signed it he'd get mad and point out what we had just signed.

A few examples:

By signing this document I hereby grant Company permanent ownership of my soul and Boss dominion over my left shoe-which I will now hand over with all due speed.


I agree to work unpaid 24 hour shifts in all months ending with the letter Q.

yeah he was a fun guy to work for...

What would happen if the employee signed those and (in the first example) immediately took off their left shoe and handed it to the boss, or (second example) pointed out after signing that it was moot, since no month ends in the letter Q? After all, in both cases, they were showing that they had read before signing.

[bhskittykatt]

My FB is set to private, so only friends can see my posts. Even then, if I post about work, it's very general and seldom a complaint. I have a few CWs on FB, and even Boss Man. If any try to throw me under the bus (they wouldn't), I have plenty of dirt on them to reciprocate. Mutually Assured Destruction, if you will.

Some CWs I won't friend, though. ACW is one of those.

I once had a boss that wanted to instill in us the habit of reading everything we signed. He would insert random things into the employee paperwork and if we signed it he'd get mad and point out what we had just signed.

A few examples:

By signing this document I agree to answer only to the name "Esmerelda" and will legally change my name to such.

By signing this document I agree that I have not read one word of it and will sign anything put in front of me.

I, the undersigned, am the walrus, coo-coo Kachoo.

By signing this document I hereby grant Company permanent ownership of my soul and Boss dominion over my left shoe-which I will now hand over with all due speed.


I agree to work unpaid 24 hour shifts in all months ending with the letter Q.

yeah he was a fun guy to work for...

You just gave me ideas for our next "Safety Meeting", which is a paper employees are supposed to read and sign (the "meeting" part seldom emerges)

I am so totally doing that next time Boss Man puts me in charge of that project!

[Andara Bledin]

My FB is set to private, so only friends can see my posts.

Just a note, but don't rely on Facebook's privacy. They're not all that good at it.

Also, I found out recently that the CDN that Facebook uses to host pictures and videos has nothing at all set up to stop people from going to the source and sharing things that way. So, if you have a super-secret picture you sent to a friend, anyone who knows how to search the CDN can find it.

^-.-^

[shadowpanda]

I'm based in the UK where there are different laws to the US, but this is a similar story.

Literally yesterday, I commented on a friends status about her working Saturday and she wasn't happy (she works Mon-Fri normally). She replied with a comment about 'the glorious leader' deciding to change the schedules. That was about it, no other specifics, no names etc, where she works isn't listed on her profile.
Turns out, she was pulled into the office for a 'talk' (nothing official though) because what she had written could be thought of as offensive.
What's worse, is that it had to be someone on her friends list that reported the comment back. She has learnt her lesson, and won't be writing about work any more

[bainsidhe]

If no one at work knows you post here, I would continue posting here as long as identifying comments (names of people, workplace, city) are not mentioned. That's what we're here for, after all. Just try to keep your sanity and employment safe.

My coworkers know about this site and how much I enjoy it. I don't think they've ever come here themselves, but I don't risk it. That's why I usually refer to very generalized situations or previous employment. Mostly previous employment, because retail is the source of all evil.

[MoonCat]

This is why I don't use either Facebook or Twitter.

People are so used to communicating through these sites that they forget, everybody with internet access can see what you wrote. Privacy settings apparently don't work that well.

On a side note, it might be very good to avoid talking to your co-workers about work. Letting people use you as a dumping ground for their work stress can be bad for your health.

[telecom_goddess]

I had to talk to my daughter about this very issue the other day. I don't think she lists where she works in her profile on FB, and I really don't know how private her profile is set to be either. But she made a rude comment about her work the other day, and a short time later deleted it. I mentioned to her that while it's good she deleted it she really should watch what she says in the future because saying things like she did is a cause for firing these days. I think it's bullshit but whatever it's there now and I'm warning her since she's 17 and doesn't think of consequences after the fact.

[cinema guy]

I'm based in the UK where there are different laws to the US,

The cinema (in the UK) has a social network policy. But I don't have a FB page.

[Dreamstalker]

I made the mistake of logging into my personal ebay account once at the game store...boss thought that since I had an active account I should use mine to shield contract-violating listings from our vendors (um, I still think they'll find out). Then he wanted me to link my ebay account to the store's Paypal (or link my Paypal with the store's bank account, I forget which--either way it was a Really Bad Idea).

Different sites, same "you did this on store time so I own it" idea.

[JLG]

That was what got me in trouble (of course it is my fault, not blaming anybody else) a co-worker went to the manager and told her what I was saying.

I also have cut all talking about work with co-workers. If any of them were really my friends they will just have to talk with me about other things. I was a dumping ground for complaints and negativity and it got to me and I was caught up it in and as part of management that was very wrong on my part.

I remember the days when I refused to get a facebook or twitter but my co-workers kept telling me over and over again to do it. I did and got caught up with all of it. I was stupid to think that private meant anything. I also didn't add just anybody. Some people have like 200 friends and all I have is 60. Adding people at work was a big mistake.

It also made me angry and negative all the time. Now I am changing so much about my attitude. I apologized to a lot of co-workers about my attitude this past year. I read something once about what too much social networking can do to your health or attitude and I laughed it off but now I see how true it can be.