Ok So – Don’t worry, I’m not going on a rant about this whole shemozzle. Suffice to say that I’m a HUGE Conan O’Brien fan and have always thought Leno is about as lame as you can get – next to George Lopez. For those who have been paying attention to REAL news and world events, and don’t know the deal: Basically NBC screwed Conan out of The Tonight Show. Actually, Andy Ford twittered a great link to SNL’s breakdown of what happened.
I’m not going to focus this blog on all the fall out and Corporate Hating™ flack NBC has unleashed on itself, or even explore the massive internet based protest movement other than to say I don’t think the studio understands the fanatical dedication of Geeks (Conan’s main demo). At this point, the Facebook fan page “I’m With Coco” has almost half a million friends.
What I have been moved to write about is this article called “When resigning, don’t follow Conan’s example” published on, surprise surprise: MSNBC hahaha!
“O’Brien’s unusual statement may look like a great bargaining tool for an employee who wants to rally public opinion to get what he wants, but for most regular working stiffs, such a public move is seen as a universal career no-no.”
It’s a snarky piece about his famous open resignation letter, thinly veiled as advice to the “average joe”:
“…in the age of Twitter and Facebook, it’s easier than ever to get your message out there. However, most employee resignation letters, especially those deriding an employer, should not be tweeted. Why? Because O’Brien is a famous comedian and you’re not.”
I mean it’s kinda common sense not to air your dirty job related laundry on the web but it got me to thinking about the whole digital foot print thing. We have been predicting for a while that HR will be scrutinizing prospective employees online personas a lot more, and bitching about your previous job is a bit of a red flag I guess. However, I’m conflicted. I’m someone that stands for always speaking your mind and being completely authentic online. Heck, I even had a twitter account called The Oversharer for a while – until I actually grossed myself out.
I guess I’m in the luxurious position of having a job with a company who embraces the crazy personalities they’ve chosen to hire. As many times as I have seen the “higher ups” blush and shake there heads at our inappropriate twitters we have never been told to reel it in. They realize we are “creative types” and respect that it is our personal expression via our personal accounts… (We have a Culturewaves™ twitter that is all biz). Some would say I am creating a difficult digital footprint that could hurt my future job-hunting prospects… maybe I’m being cavalier but you know what? I wouldn’t want to work anywhere where I had to “watch my mouth”.
I know someone who is soooooo secretive with his Facebook posts, talking in code, not allowing comments or tagging of himself in photos. I COULD NOT LIVE LIKE THAT!!! It’s called SOCIAL networking!! Believe me, I have created special “friend lists” to protect any sensitive and professional contacts from my depravity – that’s called tact… but to be constantly self censoring would totally suck.
Anyway, to sum up: What’s your company “social media policy”? What are the parameters? What’s acceptable? What’s not? How do you come across online? Do you think about what you write? Or just vent? Would you hire yourself based on your digital footprint?
Conan has every reason to be dirty with NBC and I’m sure he’s weighed his options carefully and made a very conscious decision to vent publicly. I bet most people caught up in a Corporate Hating™ rage; don’t think about the consequences of their online ranting.
