Liking the Wrong Thing on Facebook Can Get You Fired

[Shoggoth2588]

And that is why you never make a facebook using your real name.

Damn right. I change my FB name once every few weeks personally and don't tell any of my co-workers that I'm on (except for those few co-workers who I befriended before leaving the place of employment). This whole thing stinks of BS.

 

[bjj hero]

How stupid do you have to be to support your bosses political opponent in public? You'd better be damn sure that the other guy wins before doing this.

They had this coming. Why do IQs seem to drop 35 points when people access Facebook?

 

[Proverbial Jon]

And that is why you never make a facebook using your real name.

And that is why you don't use facebook at all.

Seriously, there has never been anything as useless as Facebook.

I'm with you on this. I've never been happier than during that wonderful moment when I deleted my Facebook account.

Sadly Facebook is a wonderful tool for a lot of reasons, mostly because it presents the easiest way to reach the largest possible number of idiotic sheep people in one go. Brilliant for corporate entities and advertsing. Not brilliant if you tend to avoid people, like myself.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

And that is why you never make a facebook using your real name.

And that is why you don't use facebook at all.

Seriously, there has never been anything as useless as Facebook.

It's not like tons of people use it to talk and stay in contact with people whom otherwise they may of never spoken to again. Nope, definitely the most useless thing ever conceived.

But if Facebook is the only means for you to have contact with the person, what's the point? She/he is nothing more than a random acquintance that you don't give a flying fuck about. If the person would mean something to you, surely you would find another way than Facebook, or at least meet at some point.

So instead of one perfectly functional way of keeping in contact, I'm supposed to use another equally functional way of doing so because the first way is somehow? I have friends I keep in contact only through steam, same argument; do I suddenly not give a flying fuck about them, despite the fact that steam is a worse way of keeping in contact if you don't play games with them? And how exactly am I supposed to meet at some point with someone whom I can't contact? I can use FB to contact someone arranging to meet them for example. It also lets everyone at my uni doing the same degree keep in contact, discuss and help each other, et cetera.

Your argument is incredibly arbitrary, and amounts to "FB is terrible, ergo every friend you have on FB isn't a real friend". This may apply to people who have 960 friends, but for a lot of people it's incredibly helpful.

agreed, it is extremely easy to generate groups for studying/rec sports/pick up game/etc... as nearly everyone uses it, it's user friendly, and as mentioned it's 10x easier than using your phone to leave messages and such to contact someone to either catch up with them or let them know you'd like to meet up.

Yes, idiots use FB too people, but that doesn't mean you hate the damn service, it's free, efficient, and does exactly what AIM/msn/etc.. all used to do, just better.

OT: this is incredibly stupid, if that is the actual reason they were fired then I hope they get their moneys worth, that is bullshit for getting fired over such trivial matters.

 

[OniaPL]

And that is why you never make a facebook using your real name.

And that is why you don't use facebook at all.

Seriously, there has never been anything as useless as Facebook.

I'm with you on this. I've never been happier than during that wonderful moment when I deleted my Facebook account.

Sadly Facebook is a wonderful tool for a lot of reasons, mostly because it presents the easiest way to reach the largest possible number of idiotic sheep people in one go. Brilliant for corporate entities and advertsing. Not brilliant if you tend to avoid people, like myself.

Facebook is just something I do not want. I find it hard to explain, but more than Facebook itself, I hate what it represents, and I do not want to be a part of the horde of people who use that thing.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

And that is why you never make a facebook using your real name.

And that is why you don't use facebook at all.

Seriously, there has never been anything as useless as Facebook.

I'm with you on this. I've never been happier than during that wonderful moment when I deleted my Facebook account.

Sadly Facebook is a wonderful tool for a lot of reasons, mostly because it presents the easiest way to reach the largest possible number of idiotic sheep people in one go. Brilliant for corporate entities and advertsing. Not brilliant if you tend to avoid people, like myself.

Facebook is just something I do not want. I find it hard to explain, but more than Facebook itself, I hate what it represents, and I do not want to be a part of the horde of people who use that thing.

I know the feeling. It sucks you in and it's not until you stop and take a step back that you start to question what you're doing.

I was shopping on Amazon.co.uk for dvds and the like and after I paid for my items I was asked if I wanted to share my purchases with my Facebook friends, as in, click a button and have the world know what I just bought. That was the moment I knew, that was when I woke up.

Facebook is nothing more than virus that we willingly accept into our lives without question. I don't let anything into my life without question. It had to go.

 

[Woodsey]

Presumably voting is not protected because all you're doing is marking an X on a slip of paper.

 

[Micalas]

While I do believe that the "like" button should be protected (albeit, stupid) speech. The judge's verdict is troublesome for normal employees and employers but I think it's ok to fire people who work for an elected official when they support the opposition.

Presumably voting is not protected because all you're doing is marking an X on a slip of paper.

Not even! You're just pushing your thumb onto a touchscreen that makes an X appear!

 

[RobotDinosaur]

Would you expect a Senator or Representative to hang onto staff who give a Facebook like to their political opponents? No.
This was a pure sign of disrespect for the person they were working for and zero support. Sheriff BJ Roberts has to expect full support from his deputies when things hit the fan, and this juvenile bit on Facebook showed they have zero support for the guy. It isn't just about bruised feelings. The Sheriff's Department is law enforcement, responsible for the same risks the Police go through. If you don't have strong support from your deputies or officers, then you are liable to be left out in the cold and killed during any action.
As far as I am concerned, those people would have been better off quitting their jobs, giving their vote to the opposing guy, and then see if he wins and hires them back into the department. Otherwise they basically just stabbed their boss in the back.

I'm surprised no one else seems to want to talk about this. They didn't just "Like" on Facebook, they were also actively supporting the political rival of their boss. And even if that wasn't the case, employees of elected officials are replaced pretty regularly even in good times, for all sorts of reasons or for no reason at all. It sounds just as likely to me the employees were let go legitimately and latched onto this Facebook thing as an excuse to sue.

 

[Musicfreak]

Yeah they had every right to *like* his opponent, and HE had every right to fire them for it. Just like he would have had every right to fire them he found out they were insulting him on Facebook: it's not a matter of freedom of speech, it's a matter of insubordination.

So you'd be totally cool with say Obama firing every government worker who didn't vote for him and citing insubordination as the reason he did it...okay. Frankly the idea of elected officials forcing their employees to vote for them is terrifying. You're basically saying regardless of the type of job I'm doing you have to vote for me or else I'll can you. I'm a little baffled how someone can not find that appalling.

 

[Silver Patriot]

That is absolute bullshit. Freedom of Speech protects far more than "written statements". If motorcyclists can make the case for not wearing a helmet = freedom of expression than I have no idea why expressing that you agree with something, even if it is as simple as a Facebook "like", can't also share the same protection. Its hilarious how hypocritical and stupid our system really is.

I feel that liking something shouldn't need to be covered under the first amendment because I really does not tell you anything. On that same note I don't think it should be allowed to be used against you.

the simple act of "liking" a page isn't enough to count since you don't actually make any written statements when you do so.

If the above statement is true then shouldn't they have a case? They didn't support him they just liked his page.

 

[newwiseman]

It's cases like this that make me sick.

But remember everyone, not all police are corrupt. Only most and all it takes is most.

Honestly I'm surprised, I would figure that the attorney would have argued that the support of the opposing candidate was the reason for firing (as it appears to be) and said support was inferred by the facebook like. Facebook likes may not qualify as free speech, but firing someone for their political affiliation is certainly illegal.

 

[Roander]

Honestly I'm surprised, I would figure that the attorney would have argued that the support of the opposing candidate was the reason for firing (as it appears to be) and said support was inferred by the facebook like. Facebook likes may not qualify as free speech, but firing someone for their political affiliation is certainly illegal.

I was thinking exactly the same thing, so I looked it up. It's entirely legal in Virginia for an employer to fire an employee for political reasons. They had to turn this into a free speech issue so they could call it a civil rights violation, although I really don't see how firing someone for his (presumably expressed) political beliefs would not violate his right to free speech in all cases.

 

[newwiseman]

Honestly I'm surprised, I would figure that the attorney would have argued that the support of the opposing candidate was the reason for firing (as it appears to be) and said support was inferred by the facebook like. Facebook likes may not qualify as free speech, but firing someone for their political affiliation is certainly illegal.

I was thinking exactly the same thing, so I looked it up. It's entirely legal in Virginia for an employer to fire an employee for political reasons. They had to turn this into a free speech issue so they could call it a civil rights violation, although I really don't see how firing someone for his (presumably expressed) political beliefs would not violate his right to free speech in all cases.

Fuck, how is political affiliation not covered by civil rights. Sounds like I need to petition my congressman about an idea I have for a new amendment.

 

[drkchmst]

Does this mean that when I click "Agree" that can not be taken as proof of agreeing to Terms of Use/EULA? If so goodbye Human Cent-iPad I'm out of here!

 

[MasterOfHisOwnDomain]

It sucks you in and it's not until you stop and take a step back that you start to question what you're doing.

... Or you can just have some self-control and common sense. Don't share everything with people, beef up your security, don't be a publicity whore and it's quite an unobtrusive service that's quite nice for keeping in contact with people at certain times and a decent photo repository (again ... vet photos that go on).

 

[BrotherRool]

So I have freedom of speech providing I'm very chatty?

 

[MorganL4]

And that is why you never make a facebook using your real name.

And that is why you don't use facebook at all.

Seriously, there has never been anything as useless as Facebook.

Well it does serve as a way to maintain relationships with people who live far away from you (other parts of the country, other countries that sort of thing)

But short of that yeah, I agree. I have touched my facebook profile, maybe 5-10 times since 2007 when I made it. Mainly because of ridiculous stories like this one, where someone gets fired for doing something that their employer takes issue with, and then posts it for the whole world to see. I mean earlier this week we had that case about the girl in Canada who was suing for disability due to an accident, and then had pictures of herself participating in athletic events at her college. (how you get into college when you are that stupid I dunno, but hey I guess it happens)