Burger King case highlights need for social media tact

We all have bad days at work. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s had a moan to friends and co-workers about things that happen there. But a recent case of an employer who got vocal on Facebook reminds us of the necessity to watch not only what you say, but where you say it.The New Zealand Herald is currently following a story about a Burger King employee facing the axe after making a negative comment about her employer on her personal Facebook page.The article tells how the disgruntled employee wrote “real jobs don’t underpay and overwork people like BK does” on her Facebook wall. It seems the comment came to the attention of her manager, who has since charged her with serious misconduct. While the employee’s labour union has accused Burger King of bullying, the fast food giant has hit back, saying that the employee has a record of disciplinary issues, of which the comment on Facebook is only the latest.Whether or not you think this particular case is black and white or has shades of grey, the case highlights how social media has blurred the lines between our professional and private lives.Not so many years ago, if you said bad things about someone or something, it faded pretty quickly into the past. But the internet has changed all that. Anything can be put up online and once there, you’ll find that the web has a very long memory.A recent Forbes blog gives useful advice on how to avoid landing yourself in social media hot water, while estimating that “over half of all hiring is based to some extent on social media research.” While this is an American-based statistic, it’s still relevant to New Zealand audiences as recruiters here are becoming more and more switched on to what they can discover online.Of course, flipping this on its head means you can see this not as a threat, but as an opportunity. Open a LinkedIn account and load it up with your experience and skills. Keep it up to date and get recommendations. Add a Twitter account and tweet insightful, useful content that demonstrates your knowledge and intelligence. Done well, a LinkedIn account can act as an effective online resume, adding to the information you send off with a job application and positioning yourself as someone who’s switched on when it comes to the online space.Whether or not you like it, you need to face up to the fact that many recruiters are looking you up online in order to find out more about you. Make sure you do all you can to portray yourself in the best possible light. As the saying goes, “it can take years to build up a reputation and only one momentary bad decision to destroy it.”[Image credit: Shoppe Simple]