c/fired-for-a-tweet

Found a stat that says 1 in 5 people lose their job over a social media post from years ago

Got fired from my retail gig for liking a post about unionizing

I worked at a big box store in Phoenix for about 8 months. Last month I liked a tweet from a coworker talking about unionizing the warehouse crew. My manager called me in the next day and said it was "creating a hostile environment" and let me go. I told him it was just a like, not even a comment, and he said policy is policy. Has anyone else lost a job over something that small on social media?

Lost my job over a 3 AM rant about our broken warehouse fan

Worked at a shipping place in Tulsa for 2 years. Night shift, 90 degrees inside, no AC. I tweeted a photo of the thermometer reading 97F and said the owner was too cheap to fix it. HR called me in 4 hours later. Handed me a box and said I violated the social media policy. Fair? Maybe not. But I knew the rule. Just got mad and hit send. Anyone else have a company watch your posts that close?

I used to think getting fired for tweets was always overblown

After a coworker got canned for a joke about our CEO's haircut that went viral internally, I realized context matters way more than I gave it credit for - the guy had three warnings already about his public posts. Anyone here ever changed their stance after seeing the whole backstory play out at work?

Had to choose between reporting a coworker's racist tweet or keeping my mouth shut

Honestly, I saw a guy from our warehouse post something super racist about BLM protesters on his personal Twitter. We're a pretty diverse team and I knew our HR department checks social media for stuff like that. I ended up taking a screenshot and sending it to my manager, even though I knew it could get him fired. Tbh it felt awful doing it, but he got let go two days later and I still wonder if I made the right call. Has anyone else been in that spot where you had to decide between your own conscience and someone else's job?

Question about that trend of firing people for old tweets

I saw that guy Mark from accounting got let go last month for a tweet he posted back in 2012. It was just him complaining about his landlord raising rent, nothing political or crazy. But someone dug it up and reported it to HR. The before and after is wild - he was a solid employee for 8 years, then one old tweet tanked everything in like 3 days. Do companies really not give people a chance to explain context anymore? Makes me wonder what skeletons are in my own timeline.

That time I got fired for a tweet about our CEO's new car

I posted a joke about my boss spending $80k on a Tesla while we were all getting 2% raises. HR called me in the next morning and told me I was let go for 'negative social media conduct.' The whole thing took about 45 minutes from the tweet to getting my box of desk stuff. I wasn't even trying to be mean, just frustrated with how things were going. Has anyone else had a boss with thin skin like that?

Realized I was the problem for years after my stupid political rant got shared around town

I was always the one saying 'free speech means free speech' but back in 2017 I posted something ugly about a local councilor in Portland and my boss at the print shop got 15 angry voicemails before 9am. Looking back, I wasn't being brave, I was just being a jerk with a keyboard. Has anyone else had that moment where you look at an old post and cringe at who you used to be?

Hot take: That teacher who got fired for a meme about homework wasn't wrong

I was talking to my cousin who teaches high school in Phoenix and she said the district canned a teacher for posting a "when you assign 3 chapters and they still fail" meme, but honestly the real problem is admin overreacting to public perception instead of just giving a warning, so do you think losing your job over a joke post is fair or should people just learn to read the room before hitting send?

That quiet guy in accounting got canned for a 5-year-old post

We had this dude named Phil who barely talked to anyone. Kept his head down, did his spreadsheets, never caused trouble. Some intern dug up a crude joke Phil posted on Twitter back in 2019 and HR decided it violated the new social media policy. They let him go on a Thursday afternoon, no warning, no chance to delete it. The joke was stupid but not hateful, just that lazy edgy humor everyone used back then. It made me realize how many of us have old posts that could get torched with a different boss or a different week. Has anyone else seen someone lose a job over something ancient like that?

Saw a guy get fired over a meme he shared from a parody account

I work in property management and a coworker of mine posted a meme from a fake news account back in January. It was one of those obvious joke headlines about landlords evicting people for having too many plants. He thought it was funny and shared it on his personal Facebook. Well, one of our tenants saw it and complained to corporate that he was mocking residents. They called him in for a meeting and let him go the same day. I get that companies want to protect their image, but it was clearly a joke not targeting anyone specific. Has anyone else seen people lose jobs over stuff that was obviously not serious?

Got fired for a tweet about my boss's bad parking job

So last month I posted a pic of my manager's truck taking up two spaces in the lot with a caption like "wish I had this much confidence" and someone from HR saw it. I didn't even tag the company or use their name, just a random complaint about bad parking. The next day I got called into a meeting where they said it violated the social media policy because I mentioned the store location in my profile. I lost a $15 an hour job over a joke about parking. The worst part is the manager still parks like a jerk and keeps his job. Has anyone else gotten in trouble for something that minor on social media?

Is it fair that a teacher in Ohio got fired for a tweet about her student's lunch?

I keep seeing people argue that anyone fired for a tweet just deserved it. But look at this case from Columbus last month where a teacher lost her job after tweeting 'Why does Billy always get the free lunch tray with no milk?' It was a vent to 12 followers, not a callout. On one hand, schools say it breaks privacy rules. On the other hand, is a private account with no names really a firing offense? What do you all think, does context ever matter here or is it always fair game?

My friend said to keep my Twitter private after work, but I argued it was my personal account and got suspended from my clinic for a meme about a patient's 'impossible' plaque.

Has anyone else been fired over something that was clearly a joke but got taken the wrong way, and do you think a 3-day suspension without pay would have been fairer?

My sister told me to scrub my old tweets before I started my new job at the school district.

I got hired as a teaching assistant in Springfield last fall. My sister, who works in HR, kept bugging me for weeks to go through my Twitter from college and delete anything dumb. I told her it was from like 2013, nobody cared, and it was a pain. I did a quick look but missed a lot. Three months into the job, a parent found a tweet where I joked about skipping class to go to a concert. It got screenshotted and sent to the principal. They said it showed bad judgment for a role model, even though it was old. I got let go. My sister was right, I should have taken a full afternoon to clean it all out. Has anyone else lost a job over a joke from a decade ago?

I just saw a coworker get walked out for a joke he posted about the company's new logo on his private Instagram.

He lost a $65k a year job over a meme that got 12 likes, and now I'm terrified to post anything online, even with my accounts set to private.

I almost lost my job over a 'private' group chat I thought was safe

For two years, I was part of a small Facebook group for people in my industry, about 15 of us. We'd vent about work stress and share memes. Last month, a new manager joined our company and, by pure chance, was friends with one of the members. A screenshot of me calling a client project 'a pointless circus' got passed along. I was pulled into HR the next Monday. The manager said, 'If you're identifiable and it's about work, it's never truly private.' That was my wake-up call. Has anyone else been burned by thinking a closed group was a safe space?

My coworker in Denver got canned for a 2 year old tweet about the company's coffee

He posted a joke on his private account back in 2022 calling the office coffee 'bitter bean water,' and someone screenshotted it and sent it to HR last week. Management said it violated their social media policy about not making the company look bad. I think it's insane to fire someone over an old, minor joke, but others say he should've known better than to post anything work-related. Has anyone seen a firing over something this small and dated?

My cousin's friend in Phoenix got canned for a dumb joke about the company coffee machine, and I always said 'free speech' until my own boss pulled me aside after I posted a rant about a client's project on my private account.

I argued it was my personal page, but he showed me our handbook's social media policy, which I'd signed, that clearly said 'no public complaints about work' and that was the moment I got why companies have those rules, even if they feel unfair.

My friend in Denver got canned for a dumb joke about his boss's car

This happened maybe three years ago, but I still think about it. My buddy worked at a small HVAC company and posted a picture of his manager's bright yellow truck with the caption 'when your boss buys a midlife crisis instead of new tools'. He had like twelve followers, all people we knew from high school. Someone showed the boss, and he was fired the next day. The owner said it made the company look bad, but come on, who saw it? I mean, it was stupid to post, but losing your job over a joke your friends made seems harsh. He had to move back in with his parents for six months. Does a private joke really hurt a business that much?

Rant: My coworker got let go over a joke about the company's new logo

Last month, our company rolled out a new logo and my coworker, Jake, tweeted 'Looks like the intern designed this after three energy drinks' from his personal account. He didn't tag the company, but someone saw it and sent it to HR. They called him in on Friday and said it violated the social media policy about 'public disparagement.' He was gone by lunch. I mean, it was just a dumb joke, but they said it hurt the brand. Has anyone else seen someone get fired for something that seemed pretty minor like that?

My coworker in Denver got fired for a joke he made about the company's new logo on his private Instagram

He posted a picture of the logo next to a toilet bowl cleaner brand saying 'spot the difference' and tagged three friends. HR found it two days later and let him go for 'damaging brand image'. I think it's insane to fire someone over a private joke seen by maybe 50 people, but my boss says any public post is fair game. Has anyone else seen a firing over something this small and personal?

I defended a coworker's tweet about our hospital's staffing and got a final warning

My friend posted a chart showing our ER wait times were double the city average, blaming low nurse pay, and the hospital suspended her. I argued it was a public service, but HR showed me the post included patient info from a board in the background, which I missed. Do you think a final written warning for agreeing with her online was fair, or did they just want to scare us into silence?

My boss saw my tweet about our office coffee and I had to apologize to the whole floor

Last Friday I posted a joke on my personal account calling our break room coffee 'dishwater with a caffeine dream.' I didn't think anyone from work followed me. My manager called me into his office Monday morning and said, 'You just insulted the one thing keeping this whole place running.' He made me buy a new bag of good beans and apologize to the team during our morning huddle. Has anyone else gotten in trouble for a dumb joke that blew up at work?

My buddy just got canned over a dumb joke about his boss's new car

He posted a meme on his private Instagram last Friday, just a picture of a Ford Pinto with the caption 'spotted the new company ride.' Someone showed the boss, and they fired him Monday for 'damaging company image.' It was a private account with 200 followers. Anyone think that's a bit much?