Ottawa employees fired because of Facebook
So an Ottawa grocery chain (Farm Boy) has fired employees because of postings they made on Facebook under their real identity (via: Michael Geist). Facebook is a MySpace clone focused on University/College students. Devon Bourgeois and James Wood are now jobless because of messages they posted on a message board on Facebook (although it was not publicly available). The gist I got from the story is that the company fired them for admission of theft based on posts on the Facebook message board.
Devon was the administrator of the “I got Farm Boy’d” group that was decribed as “just for fun - inside jokes”. It has 187 members from the Ottawa and Cornwall area and it is not publicly viewable — you have to be a member to read the messages.
You Got Dooced!
The worst part of Devon’s story is that he doesn’t have a common name. Typing his name into Google only brings up 5 hits, which means that once this news story is indexed it will easily turn up any time someone Google’s his name. Future employers, girlfriends and nosy people in general will be able to find out about his indiscretion.
Hopefully the MySpace generation will take this as a wake-up call and be more careful in what aspects of their life they post online. Here is a series I wrote about online anonymity that could have helped them out:
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Hello, Eng.
From the forum a few minutes ago, I clicked on a link you had posted to Digg, from there clicked on your post concerning being a “bad blogger.” (should have noted the exact name, but I’m sure you know which one that would be.)
My question: If you consider yourself a less than “good” blogger, how do you explain your receiving 3,000 to 6,000 page views each day, and how did you arrive at having a spot in the top 6000 at Technorati?
Enjoy reading your comments on the forum.
shirley Buxton
http://www.writenow.wordpress.com
The “bad blogger” post was a little bit of satire of common blogging advice, but also a recognition of why I won’t be in the Technorati top 100.
The large number of hits mostly come from writing several “how to guides” that feature prominently in search engines, and from trying to write posts that people will be interested in linking to. It’s been a lot of work.
What’s more important than “hits per day” is the number of regular readers. In 2007 my goal is to increase the number of people who find value in the site and interact with it. My recent reader poll indicated that I have around 110 readers who would are “engaged” (to the level that they would actively respond to a questionnaire).
Thank you, Eng.
Around the middle of February I will have my first year anniversary of blogging. While I don’t have near the number of views that you do, I have from the beginning of my blogging been astonished at the number of people who come by, and who comment at my personal, certain non-technical site. I started blogging “on a lark,” but found it so intriguing and somehow rewarding, that now I feel pressure (self-pressure) to continue it.
Thanks for your information.Wish you well.
Shirley Buxton
http://www.writenow.wordpress.com
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