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Social media shenanigans: A look at some cringeworthy uses of social media that have led to job losses

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

April 20, 2012 | 3 min read

This week, a survey found that 87% of companies would fire someone for posting confidential information on a social media channel, and it was revealed that one in five have taken this action because of something an employee has posted.

One PR person this week was holding his breath on Monday after posting a comment on twitter about a journalist who his agency represented – only for her to reply saying that he would be fired at 10am the next morning. He didn’t lose his job, but others haven’t been as lucky – so we take a look at some of the unfortunates who over the years have lost their jobs after a social media screw-up.

Anglo Irish Bank

We’ll start with an oldie but a goodie (dating all the way back to 2007). Anglo Irish Bank intern Kevin emailed his boss saying there was a family emergency so he couldn’t come in. However, his boss found him tagged in a Halloween party picture, dressed as a fairy, and replied to his email saying ‘Thanks for letting us know-hope everything is ok in New York. (cool wand)’

Dominos

The majority of people have already heard about or seen this YouTube video – which has now been deleted – in which Domino’s employees put food items such as bits of cheese up their nose before putting them on a pizza, along with some other unsavoury events. The employees were tracked down and fired, despite one on the pranksters sending an email to the vice president of communications saying ‘No food was ever sent out to any customer. We would never put something like that on you tube if it were real!! It was fake and I wish that everyone knew that!!!! Michael never would do that to any customer, EVER!! I AM SOO SORRY!’

Nationale Suisse

A Nationale Suisse employee called into work sick, saying that the work computer would aggravate her migraine. However, a colleague later saw that she was posting messages on her friend’s Facebook page…and she lost her job.

Chrysler

An accidental tweet from an employee from Chrysler’s social media agency from the Chrysler account instead of their own initially led to the car company claiming they had been hacked. It was later discovered what really happened, and the employee was fired.

Cisco

In 2009, Connor Riley posted a tweet about how she had been offered a job with Cisco. However, her comment about deciding whether to take the paycheck and hate the work was picked up by another employee, who offered to pass on the message to the hiring manager. Riley didn’t get to make the choice about whether she took the job or not.

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