Did you see the story about the Cathay flight attendant who
lost her job after writing on her Face book page that she wanted to
throw coffee in a passenger's face. Bad idea to post that, particularly
because that passenger was a high profile one, former Thai Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Cathay fired the attendant and announced on
its Thailand Face book page (How ironic to announce it there) that the
posting of a passenger's personal information was unauthorized and
against the airline's privacy rules.
Well, I can't say Cathay was wrong. Why is it people post private expressions on Face book when they know those can quickly become public? It's no secret that many have lost jobs or never gotten them because of Face book postings. Yet they keep posting what they would never say face to face to the employer. Given than many employers check the Face book pages of applicants and employees to see those postings and to react to them, why do people continue to show those private thoughts publicly?
It's probably because we are addicted and hypnotized by the technology we use. There is so much technology that can be used in so many ways, for so many reasons we often do not stop to think about how we use them. They blur the normal concept of rile playing, that in which an individual acts differently with an employer than he or she does with his mom or with the neighbor next door.
Instead, when we post our private thoughts on Face book we abandon those roles, the ones that help us maneuver the minefield of human relations.
We adopt one "profile' we show to all. That just won't work in any world. Unless we can separate the different faces we have to fit the person or place with whom we communicate, we instead present one view that many (the employers in the case of the Cathay corporation) can misinterpret.
Maybe Face book should post a warning that it can be injurious to its users who lose discretion when posting there.
Well, I can't say Cathay was wrong. Why is it people post private expressions on Face book when they know those can quickly become public? It's no secret that many have lost jobs or never gotten them because of Face book postings. Yet they keep posting what they would never say face to face to the employer. Given than many employers check the Face book pages of applicants and employees to see those postings and to react to them, why do people continue to show those private thoughts publicly?
It's probably because we are addicted and hypnotized by the technology we use. There is so much technology that can be used in so many ways, for so many reasons we often do not stop to think about how we use them. They blur the normal concept of rile playing, that in which an individual acts differently with an employer than he or she does with his mom or with the neighbor next door.
Instead, when we post our private thoughts on Face book we abandon those roles, the ones that help us maneuver the minefield of human relations.
We adopt one "profile' we show to all. That just won't work in any world. Unless we can separate the different faces we have to fit the person or place with whom we communicate, we instead present one view that many (the employers in the case of the Cathay corporation) can misinterpret.
Maybe Face book should post a warning that it can be injurious to its users who lose discretion when posting there.
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