By Samantha Werkheiser

Editor-in-Chief

Almost everyone these days has some form of social media, it is really hard to avoid. That being said, people need to start being smarter with the things they post online.

Recently, a Virginia woman was fired from her government contractor job because of a picture of her flipping off Trump’s motorcade went viral on social media. While I think that her firing for that reason alone is wrong, it should also be noted that she had set this picture as her profile picture on Facebook and Twitter.

I don’t think she should have been fired had she only flipped off the motorcade and it went viral, but because she intentionally set it as her profile picture, she was at fault. She had the choice of whether or not to set that as her profile picture, and she chose to.

She knew who she worked for, yet she still did it anyway. It’s important to know the social media guidelines of your employer, especially if they work closely with the government. People should be allowed to express themselves freely online, but they should also know that there can be repercussions for these expressions.

Many states are “right to hire” states, meaning that they don’t actually need to give a legitimate reason to hire or fire their employees. This should encourage people to look up all of the social media policies that their company has in place.

It should also be noted that there was some bias in the decision made by this woman’s company to dismiss her.

Earlier in this year, her coworker had made a comment on Facebook referring to liberals as “libtards.” He only got reprimanded and was made to take the comment down.

This shows a clear, biased view that the company has. Though, this employee’s comment did not go viral on the internet, whereas the woman’s picture did. This still doesn’t make the company’s bias right, I believe that that employee should also have been fired from the company.

Unfortunately, we live in an era where everything seems to be public.

Our private lives are becoming increasingly more public and boundaries are constantly being broken.This is partially our fault, we have become a nation of over-sharers. People think that everything in their lives is worth sharing, when it should be kept to themselves.

I’ve never had a Facebook and I never plan on getting one. I see the way that people present themselves on that platform, and I have no interest in partaking in it. People are sharing things about their relationships, family, political belief or medical issues that are best kept to themselves.

The other thing about these posts is that they are forever. Sure, they can be deleted, but someone could have already screenshotted it. Employers can also easily look up your profile and see all of the things you post.

I had a past employer that would look up potential employees before hiring them.

Social media can play a huge role in whether you get a job or not, especially if it is a company that has political affiliates.

My big point here is to be very careful what you post online. If you really feel the need to share your personal life or thoughts on social media, make sure that it isn’t too inappropriate or outlandish.

Things can follow you forever, so just remember that before you hit the post button.

Email Samantha at:

swerkheis4@live.esu.edu