5 Times Someone Lost A Job Because Of Social Media

Every post, picture, and thought you make public on social media can have an impact on your personal and professional life. Whatever you do online will affect your life offline. If you have something questionable, make it private! People Magazine recently published an article with stories of employees who got fired because of their social media. Here are some particularly damning tales:

#1

"A prospective employee at the company I work for had just passed his interview and was told that all he needs to do is pass a drug test and a physical and he would start on Monday. Someone found the new hire on Facebook, and the guy had just posted 20 minutes after the interview, 'S---! Anyone know how to pass a drug test in 24 hours?!'"

#2

"Guy at my company got sacked for putting a Facebook status along the lines of 'f--- immigrants, I hate them,' not realizing both his bosses (also owners of the company) were second-generation immigrants from India. They started the company from scratch and now employ 30 people. They pay for full gym membership, healthcare, and a generous pension for all the staff, which he had to say goodbye to when he was fired."

#3

"One of my Facebook friends worked for the postal service in my town. She posted about how she wanted to kill her boss and went into some gory details. Then, about 5 hours later, she posted another status about how the Feds showed up at her house and that one of her coworkers had shown her boss the status, and she was now fired. She's obviously really dumb."

#4

"A co-worker of mine was fired recently because he got caught sneaking off from work to smoke weed and drink. This moron would post photos of him smoking and drinking on Facebook. The boss found out and predictably fired him on the spot. This guy was almost 30 years old."

#5

"A former colleague of mine posted about how he was going to use up all his sick leave then quit. He posted it at 9 a.m., and was told he didn't have a job at 11 a.m."

These stories might seem outrageous or unlucky, but they can happen to anyone. Exercise caution on social media. What you post, share, and like will have an increasingly bigger effect on your employment prospects.