A Master’s student at UC Berkeley has learned the hard way that some thoughts should be kept private – and off Twitter.
Connor Riley was offered a job at Cisco Systems in California. She tweeted this soon after:
Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.
As innocuous as this comment may sound, one web-savvy Cisco manager saw the tweet and didn’t find it so amusing.
Tim Levad tweeted back:
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.
SNAP. The tweets went viral, even after Riley set her account to private. Her pictures and personal info have been revealed. Her job offer, I’m sure, was rescinded.
Behold the power of 140 characters.
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March 19th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
This has nothing to do with the “power” of 140 characters – rather the “power” of garden-variety terminal stupidity. Could have been evident (to me) in far less than 140…….
March 20th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Vanessa, Good that you guys posted this. Gen Yers are not learning that what they put out onto the web is there for all to see… And, it can come back to bite them.
“Regular Fatty,” thank you for commenting. You illustrate the point brilliantly. Your alias probably isn’t too smart given the drug policies at most companies.
Best,
Christian Anderson
March 29th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Is it possible to frame somebody on the Internet? What if a career rival starts misusing their name? Wouldn’t that cost a colleague some job offers too?