I am constantly surprised at the stupidity of people who hold important positions and their Internet use. On the one hand, they’ve reached great heights using their intellect. Yet, with said intellect, they fail to recognize how the Internet truly works. When you write something on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, AIM, Gchat, and email… it’s not like writing something using pen and paper. There’s no magical white-out or eraser, and you certainly can’t shred it. No, ladies and gents…it’s there for good.
In March 2009, msnbc relayed a story about a would-be Cisco employee (“theconnor”) who tweeted: “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.”
Before the work day ended, Web sleuths revealed “theconnor’s” true identity… And thanks to Google Cache, the deleted content of “theconnor’s” homepage resurfaced on CiscoFatty.com, a Web site erected to commemorate this cautionary tale.
Rep. Anthony Weiner is by no means a pioneer in using Twitter in a scandalous way…but he’s definitely up there on the “we thought you’d know better” list. Here are some additional politician twitter scandals and a compilation of the top 10 Twitter related firings.
Note to the wise…if you don’t want to get in trouble for your words…air out your thoughts vocally to a friend. Since we’re in the Internet age, I feel it necessary to point out that by “vocally”, I don’t mean using Google Voice, Skype or a cell phone…while it may be a rare concept, I mean old school face-to-face.
Filed under: Politics, Social Media, Tech, internet, Rep. Weiner, scandals, theconnor, Twitter
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