How to get fired in hours?

This inappropriate tweet got Justime Sacco fired before her plane landed in South Africa.

​Not a day goes by that I read someone famous getting fired or go on a so called medical leave for some inappropriate tweet or social media post they sent out. 

Here is how long it typically takes to lose jobs for egregious behavior or offenses:
Sexual Harassment -- Years
Racism -- Years 
Insubordination -- Years
Incompetence -- Years to Never
Ageism -- Never
Inappropriate Tweet -- Hours

Social Media shows us who we really when we are all by ourselves and have no one to stop us from getting what we think off our chest fast by letting the whole world know. It is empowering, but  can be very destructive.  For this post, I will focus on Tweeter since it is the easiest.

And guess who made tweeting what we are thinking popular: President Trump.
He loves it.
He could not survive without it.
It's his drug of choice.  

Fortunately for him, he can't get fired from his job until November 3rd, 2020.  

Unfortunately, we can get fired in hours.

Just think of this for a second. You are out of a job in less than a few hours for expressing your well-guarded thought that no one would have ever known you had if it weren't for Tweeter.  People now know your innermost thought on topic that is unrelated to anything illegal you are doing.  

No one tweets I am sexually harassing this person.
No one tweets look what a racist thing I did at work by not hiring a person of color.
It rarely, if ever, happens.

But if you tweet about something offensive that is sexist, racist and homophobic, you are justifiably fired from a job. There are no excuses. There is no he said, she said thing here.  You will have a hard time proving that someone hacked your tweeter account. You are on your own to face the consequences for showing what you really think and believe. 

f you can't afford to lose your job, then don't post anything on social media. It's that simple. 

We naturally think it's a joke when we get fired for an inappropriate tweet.  We think who follows us anyway and even have time to read our inappropriate tweets besides two chickens and a pig in some barn in Idaho. 

But when we get up in the morning and turn on the news, we are the news. We have lost our job. How did that happen? What did we say to deserve this notoriety? We all like to be famous but not for being a world-class Tweethole.

And we immediately send a customary apology tweet --- thinking, hoping, praying --- that it will undo the damage. It never works. Next, we go on our favorite cable news shows to apologize. That does not work either. The cable shows love Tweetholes since it gets them good ratings. Some audience members will support you if you show some contrition with a tweet saying that you were unfairly treated. 

Damage is done. You are not likely to get a second chance soon since no company wants to hire a Tweethole if it knows how to do a quick Google search of our name. 

Tweeter is dangerous.

No one knows for a long time when we are drinking excessively in private, taking drugs, stealing, or even having affairs, but everyone knows very quickly and make a negative judgment on how we think and what we believe in when we send out an inappropriate tweet. And if enough people feel that way, you are toast. 

What to do?

Get off Tweeter and other social media. It's very addictive. If you can't, then become the President of the United States. Then you can tweet anything you want with impunity for four years and have lots of fun doing it. Otherwise, limit your use of Tweeter if you want to keep your job, maintain your livelihood, and not risk becoming a certified Tweethole.  

Simple Rules to follow to keep your job

• Hold a tweet for at least 24 hours. It is safer to be last when it comes to tweeting.
• Be happy with having a few followers so you don't want to be controversial.
• No one cares what you think or believe so why share your thought in a tweet? 
• If you do feel the need to share a thought, post a blog. It is hard, but you will only post it if you are scared. Tweeting requires no courage, and that's what gets people into big trouble. 

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Jay Oza is an author, speaker, executive coach.  He makes people thrive on high stakes stage whether it's for a job interview, a sales presentation or a high-stakes speech. He is the author of a practical  book Winning Speech Moments: How to Achieve Your Objective with Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere. You can get this book on Amazon for 99 cents for a limited time. Please download the free speech checklist that you can use to help you create a winning speech for any situation.

Please contact him if you would like to discuss how we can work together even if you are budget constrained due to the current economic situation. If you are interested in inviting him to give a Zoom talk on job Interviewing or high-stakes speaking. You can reach him at [email protected].

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