Being Fired for Posting on SJ

And it resulted in some people no longer posting on here or nuking themselves. Which is sad.

 

I'm throwing this one out here to demonstrate just how easy it can be to figure out someone's identity, even if they think they're anonymous here (No mods, I'm not going to out anyone).

I swear this story is true.

A couple years ago, there was a thread about me on on here. Someone who is a regular poster and is often obnoxious, who has never met me in my life, ripped into me something fierce.

I was pissed enough that I went through his history of posts, looking for clues. It took about 15 minutes to figure out his identity, and I won't say what was the tipoff because again, I'm not going to out the person, but he gave himself away and it took about two google searches to confirm it.

Didn't say anything to the person, just tucked it away for future reference.

A year later, this person gets laid off from his job, right at a time I was looking for freelancers for a good, regular gig. Another writer comes to me and say "Writer X just got laid off ... any chance you can help him out?"

Had Captain Dumbass not ripped into me on the site for no apparent reason, I would have offered him work and not thought twice about it, just on the other person's recommendation. Instead, he unwittingly cost himself more than $5K at the time he needed it most.

So that's the lesson for tonight. Stuff like this really happens, so be careful. I'm going to go back to posting under my regular handle now.

 

I'm toning down my bitching about work, but no because of fears of termination. There are other jobs out there, other lines of work.

Rather, I've just become complacent about things.

 

There's this guy named rockbottom. You two should get along swimmingly.

 

Alright, not to dredge up painful memories for me, but yes, getting fired for posting on SportsJournalists.com happens.

Happened to me.

It wasn't so much that I was posting anything specific on here. Just posting. Fair gripe that I was doing it on company time. Nevermind that I had no prior knowledge that I would lose my job over it. And that all I was was an overpriced agate clerk hired for 30K a year when I should have been doing other things than answering the phone. And begged and begged and begged to get more stuff to do, but the SE couldn't keep his hands off of everything. I still was doing it at work, and per company policy, that was a no-no I guess (though it said nothing about termination without prior reprimand) and I was canned.

My advice to anyone/everyone on here. Be careful of what you say, where you post from and who you talk to on here. It certainly can be a great tool for networking (I have met some wonderful people on here, even some in person) helped hire stringers for events and made contact for job interviews. But there are a lot of people aware of this site. A lot post on here. More lurk. Some places are cool with the site. Heck, my last shop encouraged me to respond to threads on here and post job openings, etc. Some aren't. Mainly, you know how much of a dick your boss is. Don't push it. If he/she doesn't read the site, you can damn well guarantee that he/she knows someone who does and will tell him/her about it.

 

Sirs, Madames,

I only wish SportsJournalists.com was around years ago so I could have bitched and moaned about a former employer. That said, I have nothing to bitch and moan about with my current employer. Honest to god, nothing. That said, I don't race to defence of the outfit when others throw darts. Sorta unseemly if I did.

YHS, etc

 

The anonymity is very transparent. Had a former competitor PM me a few years back not long after I started posting me, and the PM began with, "Hey [Wicked], how ya doing?" Needless to say, I try to tread carefully, though sometimes idiocy gets the best of me.

 

There's a few of us from my department on SportsJournalists.com. We all know each other's handles. In fact, I told my guys mine. We don't bash each other or the company (at least in public). If a thread is interesting, we'll talk about it at work and even follow it during slow times (the student streaker in Ohio being the most recent example). I don't hover over others, demanding non-stop attention to detail. Everyone needs breaks, and this site can provide entertaining downtime. That being said, our guys also understand what it means to make deadline and respect that, too, so I respect them and their judgements.
I send threads to the EE all the time, and he'll visit during hours sometimes, too.
Some threads can be helpful, and others can be amusing. Those are the ones I keep tabs on and appreciate. The ones that are cruel, I leave those for the bitter contingent.
For those of you who've been fired for posting during work hours, I hope you have bounced back. I also hope you've learned to find out the company's regulations on what you can and can't do.
For those of you who've been fired for what you've posted, you have learned a valuable lesson, one that others can learn from w/out paying the heavy price. The fire only burns you if you touch it.

 

This is a good story that brings up another question I've always had about this place: Could it actually hamper someone from getting a job elsewhere?

There are some prominent posters here -- anonymous or not -- whom I'd never recommend for a job. I actually think it's hurt some people here in ways they don't even know. Maybe I shouldn't write that because it makes things less spontaneous, but this still is one big network, and posters here shouldn't think that some fairly important people in the business (and I'm not one of them) don't read it.

 

The same holds true for the sports figures we cover, doesn't it? Our profession too often revels in taking people down and that it extends to each other on a message board comes as absolutely no surprise. I feel a lot of pent up anger out there.

 

ON THE OTHER HAND: One of the worst things I ever experienced--not just on SJ, I mean in my entire life--was getting a PM from a well-known female columnist who had just been informed that she was supposedly 21...and everyone 'knew' it. She was in trouble at work (the desk was complaining that her columns were late while 'she' was posting on SJ) and in trouble with friends who thought she had been ripping them. She had also been told that 21 was actually claiming to be her--ridiculously false. I still get sick thinking about it.

Of course it was later determined 21 was someone else entirely, on account of this woman having a cool handbag and great earrings at a major sporting event. We cleared that one up too, I hope.

Safe to say, there are many posters here who have maintained their anonymity (successfully) for reasons that are profoundly important to them. So if you're going to guess, a) ask yourself if it really matters to you, and b) be right before you mess up someone's career and life.

And if you really do care about your anonymity, be smart enough to not link yourself all over the internet, and then whine that someone identified you. A LOT of people read this board. Someone will recognize you if you let them.

 

Excellent point.
On the first SportsJournalists.com outing in DC, a fellow poster and I were discussing how some folks on this board act like total a$$holes, and that poster said something to the effect of: "If that a$$ ever applies at my gig, I'm certainly not going to forget how that person holds himself/herself on SportsJournalists.com. It is a factor of character in my mind - don't care what kind of thread he or she posted on, either."