Teresa D'Amario

Ok, not really. I’m not the one fired. But there are people out there getting fired for what they put on twitter and facebook and even myspace. There are also people out there who are getting their homes broken into by people who are on their “Friends’” lists.

Why?  Because they are announcing their woes, good, bad and ugly, to the entire world.

Yes. To the World.

I remember a time when preparing for a vacation included such things as stopping mail service and stopping the newspaper, so each didn’t pile up. I remember a time when you put an automatic light switch on one of your lights in your home, so when you were out of town, the whole neighborhood didn’t know. You then locked your doors and begged your neighbors to keep an eye on your home and report any suspicious behavior.

Enter 2010, where we stop our mail and don’t know what a newspaper is. We may have that automatic light switch, but it doesn’t do any good because before going on vacation, we plastered all over twitter and facebook:

“I’m going to Disney!”

Ok, I’m saying Disney because I’ll be heading there soon. But luckily I can say that, because my home will not be empty. See, I’m leaving hubby behind.

But if I wasn’t, I would be more careful of what I post online.

Last month I read an article about a woman who posted on facebook how she was going to a concert of some kind, with a friend. When she got home, her home had been robbed. Interestingly, she’d had the forethought to set up a video camera inside her home. Who does that, I ask you? But either way, the burglars were caught on tape, and later found to be friends from her “Friends list” on Facebook.

Yesterday I read an article about a young woman who worked at a pizza joint. She had a bad day. We all have them from time to time. On her facebook, prominent for all to see, was the name of the pizza joint where she worked. She then went online and bashed a certain customer who had irritated her. She didn’t mention the names, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was the rant was posted in close proximity to the name of the business in question.

Should she be fired? 51% of respondents said NO.

I say YES.

The same can be said for the authors, agents, editors, etc, who badmouth without thinking. We all do it with our friends. “Did you hear what Joe Blow did to me?” It’s so danged easy to do. We are raised in such an insular manner, if you don’t personally know Joe Blow, it’s very easy to badmouth him. Joe could be a perfectly nice man, but he didn’t like my book. Therefore he’s just plain evil. Look at this horrid review. Or, Joe Blow hated my manuscript and therefore he must be a jerk. Did you see what that author did? She wrote the most horrible thing in the world!

See how easy it is?

Funny thing is, that’s not a big deal. What’s a big deal is when we do it on a public forum. I keep hearing complaints how Facebook is violating our privacy, letting our bosses see our posts, sharing information with people we don’t know. Next it will be twitter who’s in trouble with that, I’m sure.

But here’s my point: THESE ARE PUBLIC FORUMS. Despite having a password to access them, it does not mean they are private. For example, we can all see Ashton Kutcher’s twitter if we should so desire. We can all see Teresa D’Amario’s facebook if we should so desire. So it wouldn’t be smart for me to badmouth anyone! On the same token, it would be very dangerous for me to say “I’m home alone. I’m so bored”. That’s tantamount to saying “I’m the perfect victim. There are no witnesses.”

Well, I refuse to be a victim. When I’m going out of town, I don’t announce it. So, my dear, sweet followers, if I get quiet and you don’t know why, I may be out of town. Or, I might have the flu and be staring at the boob tube instead of the equally hypnotizing computer monitor.

I think it’s time for our safety and security to step into 2010. It’s time to remember,

#1, if you talk bad about your company, that means you are making said company look bad. I bet, if you check the employee manual, that means you’re fired. It doesn’t matter if you were just blowing off steam.  A company is no better than the employees who work there, and your bosses know that.

#2: If you announce to the world your house is empty, someone is watching.  And that someone may not be quite as honest as you, and covet that awesome wide screen plasma TV you just bought and announced so happily on Facebook.  It would probably be easier on your front door if you just wrapped the TV in a pretty red bow and sat it on your doorstep.  Then they wouldn’t have to come inside for it.

So remember common sense, folks.

If you like your job and want to keep it, don’t badmouth customers or employees, the boss or the company.

If you are online, stop and think how many MILLIONS of people can see what you post BEFORE you touch that keyboard.  What would happen if one of those MILLIONS isn’t as honest as you are?  There are some downright evil people in this world.  They do quite well on their own finding their perfect victims.  Don’t make yourself a victim.  Fight back.  Don’t share personal information on the web!  Then it won’t matter who Facebook shares your information with.  If they have nothing more than your name, state, and email address, there’s not too much damage which can be done.  Unless if your name is something Stephanopolis and you are the only one in the state of Tatooine that has that name.

Then you just might be in trouble!

Ok, off my soapbox now. LOL

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