The Views Are Mine And Not My Employer
You see Twitter disclaimers more and more these days. It’s a variation on the “the views are mine and not my employer”, or “opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone” theme.
Guess what?
Those opinions may be yours and they may not reflect the opinions of your employer, but they reflect you.
Which brand do you care more about?
Whenever I see that disclaimer I immediately think this person is saying “Yo, I’m an asshole. Please don’t tell my boss.”
If you need to put a warning ahead of your tweets that your behaviour may not be acceptable in the staff room, then you need to check your behaviour. Yes, personal time is personal time and we all can’t be expected to be on the clock 24/7; however, when it comes to social media, anything you tweet or facebook can and will be used against you.
Just ask former Rogers Sportsnet anchor Damian Goddard. Moments after Goddard tweeted support of an agent attacking Sean Avery for appearing in a gay marriage ad he was fired.
Goddard had the disclaimer on his account, but it didn’t matter. Everyone knew who he was, what he did and which company he represented.
Today, Calgary Sun City Editor, Dave Naylor is experiencing a similar situation. While his Twitter handle is @Nobby7694, his proper name and job are listed in his Twitter bio – along with a disclaimer.
This evening he tweeted something inappropriate about Jack Layton and subsequently apologized for said tweet. The reaction on the twittersphere was immediate to not only take Naylor to task, but also his employer.
I consistently quote Gillian Shaw from the Vancouver Sun and her social media advice: “if you don’t want it on the front page of the newspaper, don’t tweet it.”
Putting “these opinions are mine” doesn’t change the comments you make. Especially when your name and occupation are listed in your Twitter bio or easily found.
When you say something stupid they don’t include your disclaimer on the front page of the paper, they just say “Joe Schmo from Asshat Industries said …”
Think twice. Tweet once. Look after the most important brand in your career – your own.
catch the buzz … pass it on.
Tags: media insight, news, social media, twitter
Totally agree. If you want to be an asshole, make an alias.
Great point on protecting your personal brand. The disclaimers are pointless; just something to make corporate management feel better.
I like the first comment from Shannon. I’m sure Violentacrez agrees.
I don’t think your point has anything to do with the disclaimer. The disclaimer stands to say “my opinions are not necessarily those of my employer.” That has nothing to do with what your opinions are or how your employer should respond to their reflection of your character.
When you see that disclaimer, you shouldn’t think the person is an asshole. You should think he understands that his employer doesn’t control his twitter account.
Note what happened to me when I was ‘infamous’ for a week over having a favorite child. I was ‘daddy blogger’ for a few hours before it spun in to ‘Canadian Radio Host’. Like it or not, my employer was quickly brought in to define who I am.