How to avoid seven types of tweets and posts that can get you jailed or fired?

Instances of people being fired from their job or jailed because of offensive, inappropriate or indiscreet tweets are plentiful! 

Once a tweet or post is online, it is not possible to control who views it. Even without many follower’s tweets go viral.  Intelligence and Police forces constantly analyze tweets and posts in the public domain to pick up information on potential suicides, terror threats and drugs. 

Thinking before you post can save a lot of personal distress. Avoiding the seven types of posts and tweets illustrated below will improve your online image and prevent actions such as being fired, jailed, defamed or from lost opportunity and friends.

1. Posting personal tweets on corporate accounts

OOPs! I got fired because I sent a personal crib on my corporate account instead of my group of buddies.  Quick thumbs are to blame but the damage cannot be redeemed. Once online on your company’s corporate accounts, it’s their reputation that’s at stake. What is posted on a corporate account represents the companies view and recovering from the mistake is usually a sack because that is what stakeholders expect. Even if you boss sympathized with you, your sack could not be prevented. Had you posted on your personal account representing your official position, it would have a similar outcome.

2. Posting offensive Jokes 

We must keep in mind that what you post online is taken at face value, it is not interpreted in the same way as the people who know you would. Online, you reach an audience with widely differing ideologies and perspectives. Your version of the joke may be interpreted as being racist or sexist. A close analogy is to pick on a childhood memory where you did something that you thought was fun, but your parent or teachers chided you for it. They had a different perspective. Even in the adult world, there is lots to learn from the perspectives of others much like our childhood days. The net result is usually self-defamation, loss of friends and opportunity.  Jokes on co-workers may results in HR warnings or action.

3. Using Threat Words - Bomb, Kill, Suicide, Rape

Words like these irrespective of intent would be interpreted as a call to action by police or anyone who viewed your post or tweet for that matter. I can assure you that even if the actions were a prank the arm of the law is not lenient. Many times, because of ideological reason we may use these words in a figurative way against a person of authority, “Kill the President” for instance which may result in severe consequences

4. Making Threats

When you make a threat online, it can be used as evidence in a court of law. Threats can be made in a fit of rage, with actual intent or even to delay a social function or plane. Once a threat is made with intent, however prankful or in a fit of emotion, it will be dealt with very severely by law.

5. Content which contains violence, porn, or is racist or sexist in nature

Companies are not tolerant of executives who post such type of content, if it does not get you fired it would hurt your job search prospects or rise in the organization. Companies expect their employees to be good corporate citizens, in the same way as we are expected to keep our political and religious views personal, and function in a neutral or secular way in the office. Obviously, pedophilic content will mean a jail sentence

6. Silly or Careless Comments

Many people generate their own version of events, spread half truth or deliberate lies. Posting these online can get you in serious harm. When these tweets or posts are made against people of authority, the law enforcement agencies quickly act on their complaints. Visits to the police station and the legal action that follows would be a harassment that would best be avoided. Most often the sentence results in a red-faced public apology. Sometimes, what we believe to be true is fake news or a narrative spread deliberately for political or business interests, we should keep this in mind when we compose online messages

7. Retweeting or Liking

Yes, retweeting or liking some types of post may be viewed as support to a campaign of hate or disinformation. In times of COVID, or civil unrest, malicious rumors are often circulated to stir the pot or for political interests. We must ensure that in these times we maintain calm and avoid spreading these rumors