I get that it was a stupid joke, especially given the political sensibilities. I don’t think it should have been a firing offence. Am I wrong?
One of the drawbacks to the age of social media is that you have no control over what happens to the things you post. As an American bank CEO has just found out.
It was definitely in poor taste to post an AI altered photo of her family at Halifax airport wearing “Lake America” sweatshirts. Canadians are a little touchy about Donald Trump’s attempts to rewrite geography (and annex our country).
I will admit to being angry when I saw the first news story, which claimed the family had had to cut its vacation short because of the backlash. But i couldn’t decide if my anger was directed at stupid American tourists or inhospitable Canadians. We shouldn’t treat our guests badly, no matter how great the provocation.
I’m rather curious as to how Jane Smith’s sister feels about how her reposting of a private Facebook photo created a minor international incident. Given that the repost has apparently cost her sister her job, one would hope she has learned a lesson. I would imagine things might be a little tense at the next family gathering.
The story reminds me of the need to ask permission before circulating stuff online. It also shows us that we need to be a little more compassionate and forgive people for doing stupid things.
Yes, a bank president should know better than to post something controversial. But don’t most of us think that there is a divide between our private lives and our workplace? There seems to be no end of news stories about people getting fired for social media posts that have nothing to do with their job.
About a dozen years ago, when I was working for a backbench Conservative MP, I received an email, sent to all Conservative staff, asking for information on our online activities, including whether we had a blog. I ignored it.
My reasoning was that my activities here were none of the party’s business. I still believe that, even though there are times when I may take a political stance that may not align with party policy.
I think readers are intelligent enough to understand that my views do not represent the party or its leader. Or anyone else except me.
That doesn’t mean I was not cautious (usually) when I posted about the issues of the day. I have a couple of posts that I decided were just too controversial to be shared – though some day I may revisit those, as an insight into my thinking. probably not though, as they would no longer be topical.
What I want to know is, when did we get so serious as a society that every mistake was such a big deal? Is there any way we can reverse that?
