Social Media may be utilized to fund raise for philanthropic causes, to crowd source to help catch criminals, and to help unite family members. Unfortunately, too many people have lost their jobs because of the content they have posted online.
The latest person who appears to have joined the #SocialMediaFail club is now former PayPal Director Rakesh Agrawal. According to The Daily Mail, Mr. Agrawal went on a late night Twitter tirade while in New Orleans. Mr. Agrawal appears to have made some derogatory comments about his co-workers online that became newsworthy very quickly. While there appears to be some dispute as to the timing of Mr. Agrawal's departure from PayPal; there is no denying that soon after his Tweets appeared he stopped being employed by PayPal.
New Orleans is one of the most interesting and exciting cities in the world. I have had the pleasure of visiting the city on many occasions and experiencing some of the fun festivals and events that the city hosts. However, not everything one does in New Orleans is meant for the entire world to see. Unfortunately, what goes on in "Vegas (or in New Orleans or anywhere else) stays in Vegas" may no long apply in the Digital Age.
The bottom line is that everyone, including self described "tech/social media experts", "social media consultants", and the "digerati" need to better understand the ramifications of publicly posting personal thoughts and/or images online. My hope is that those who read about this incident will realize that just because you may have a Twitter account it does not mean you should actively Tweet.
Copyright 2014 by Shear Law, LLC. All rights reserved.
