Twitter your way to unemployment.

Let me just get it out there: I don’t use Twitter.

Not only do I not use it, but I don’t understand it. I know, weird, right? Especially since I’m a member of Gen Y, a generation that’s supposedly well versed in all things computers and social media.

I understand the general concept of it. But I just don’t understand the point. I already update my status on Facebook. Are people really clamoring for up-to-the-minute details of the minutia of my life? Well, for my adoring fans:

It’s hard getting up in the mornings. I was still tired.

I didn’t feel like tomato soup for lunch today so I had chicken noodle.

Hmm, maybe posting that my boss is a pretentious bore was a bad idea…

My favorite blue pen died. Had to switch to inferior black pen that skips when I write.

Exhilarating stuff, right? But, maybe it’s a good thing I choose not to Tweet. Because apparently Twitter could get you fired.

Yeah, that’s right. I’m sure you’ve heard by now, but some guy who was offered a job at Cisco Tweeted about how he was going to hate his job. And of course the company found out about it. Wait, so something I write on the world wide Web is readable to others? Across the world, no less? What happened to my invisibility shield?

Sorry, dude. If you want your inner-most thoughts to be private, write them down in a diary. (And make sure your little brother doesn’t have the key. I learned that the hard way!) Put private/illegal/embarrassing things on the Internet, and people will read them. And there will be consequences.

I’ve talked before about the hazards of friending your boss on Facebook. But this Twitter thing sounds a lot more dangerous.

Personally, I don’t think I could trust myself–I already have a tendency to over share.

So what do you think about Twitter? Is it fair to fire or not hire someone over his or her obviously-not-thought-through Tweets?

Jessica Livingston
Managing Editor
jessica.livingston@e-bim.com