Anyone seen this happen before? Opinions on this?



Jessica Zenner
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=322407

http://www.penny-arcade.com/

Quote :

" Our newest comic is available here, regarding the blogger that Nintendo fired recently. As usual, Gabriel and I disagree absolutely on virtually every point of this discussion, my own perspective favoring greater liberty while he presents a naked defense of fascism. The two universal axioms we were both able to agree upon were that: 1. Contract work is extremely volatile. I had a friend do tech work through contractors locally, through places hooked in to all the biggest companies under exclusive contracts, and they're under no compulsion to tell you why you need to put all your shit in a box and leave the facility in ten minutes. And once you piss these places off, it follows you around for years, like some spectral wolf. He does his tech support for the United States Army now. 2. You are not "posting anonymously" if you use a fake last name and have pictures of yourself on your blog. That is not "anonymous." That is "I dare you to find me, and then, having found me, terminate my employment." You should not expect GloboMegaCorp to "grok" participation culture like blogs. Also, you shouldn't expect them to know a word like "grok." MTV's Stephen Totilo (along with Newsweek's N'Gai Croal) are probably our best placed agents in the otherwise bleak houses of the mainstream media outlets. As a jump off from this week's anxious Bungie/MS speculation, Stephen goes through a quick list of the companies he believes are well-suited to work the rich fields of the Halo franchise. I'd assumed that we'd be of one mind on them, and many of his suggestions are solid, but the two best candidates are nowhere to be seen. 2k Boston/Australia - that is to say, Irrational Games - could produce the most incredible science fiction this side of System Shock with that franchise. They're already comfortable with the hardware, they're incredible storytellers, and plus, they have literally already made a game where a cyborg and an A.I. fight a collective intellect on a spaceship. Quite simply, there's no company in the universe more qualified. My second pick is BioWare. God only knows if they'd ever work on someone else's intellectual property again, but I think this is a sandbox few could resist. Clearly, it would be a very different Halo than we're used to - though (in the manner of Halo Wars) their approach could easily coexist with a more traditional title. Of course, Microsoft should only flip this switch when they're prepared to make a Halo game as epic as their advertising campaigns. We'll be gone for a few days, mostly over the weekend, until we return at some apocalyptic hour Wednesday morning. There will be no interruption of service over this period - indeed, since everything must be slotted in advance, service should be substantially improved over the usual. Monday and Wednesday will see two articles go up from denizens of the games industry. I'd hoped to have one more ready to go, and if it arrives by the time I get back I'll make sure it goes up for Friday. I firmly believe that these pieces will improve your life in some way. (CW)TB out. "

[Edited on October 5, 2007 at 3:49 PM. Reason : I'm gonna have to agree with tycho here.]

10/5/2007 3:46:40 PM

it's been happening for years.

i don't know why people think they can just say whatever they want because they have a blog. don't talk shit about your company if you don't want to get in trouble.....

10/5/2007 4:04:23 PM

I have a buddy in Afghanistan that was told to take his blog offline by his CO or face court martial. The rest of their base received the same order.

10/5/2007 4:18:25 PM

i got fired (well, not rehired) over tdub

and people are all the time saying that tdub isn't a blog

so wtf?

10/5/2007 6:22:00 PM

yeah, I've been watching what I say on tdub and removed myself from unbecoming facebook stuff because of this kinda shit.

[Edited on October 5, 2007 at 6:32 PM. Reason : tdub may or may not have had something to do with me losing a job for no explained reason]

10/5/2007 6:32:16 PM

The internet is not your diary.

10/6/2007 1:06:30 AM

evan,

how did they attach posts on TWW to you?

what kind of company did you work for?

what type of comments (generally speaking) caused you to lose your job?

10/6/2007 3:24:56 AM

dammit evan, you answer me when im talkin to you

10/7/2007 2:27:43 AM

Quote :

"yeah, I've been watching what I say on tdub and removed myself from unbecoming facebook stuff because of this kinda shit."

All of my bosses know that I have three jobs total, all on campus; for the most conservative one, and the one I like most, I
- do not post anything offensive on TWW during the hours I am there (I actually rarely get on TWW for more than a minute or two for most of my shift. 6hr shift, and ~5.5hrs of free time)
- avoid viewing anything offensive
- studiously avoid naming or giving away the workplace
- know that at least one of my many bosses lurks on TWW (who may or may not have an account: I don't know, but I assume they can and probably will view my posts)

I'm a good employee, they know it, I know it, and I really have nothing to fear, but I definitely don't want to risk something stupid biting me on the ass. The stuff off the clock? I really don't see it becoming an issue. I'm sure many people don't envision the problems they encounter, but my bosses really are that cool. If some of the things I post were to really be an issue...oh well. I'd say what I have to say, and if I lost the job, oh well. I love this job, but it's not the only one out there.

As far as facebook, it's easy: don't friend bosses, and keep everything set to friends-only. I've gone so far as to set it so you can only find me via searching with an unused email address.

10/7/2007 12:51:19 PM

Quote :

"The internet is not your diary."

If whatever you have out on the internet can be accessed by everyone, it's considered being public and you can be accountable for what you write or do on the net. And again, the internet is not your diary. Pick up a pen and a notepad if you want to keep your voice to yourself, or if you don't have anything good to say, don't say it at all.

10/7/2007 11:33:14 PM

Quote :

"if you don't have anything good to say, don't say it at all"

nm.




[Edited on October 8, 2007 at 12:13 AM. Reason : ]

10/8/2007 12:11:43 AM

This has happened to me too... except, I was lucky enough not to get fired because my boss has some common sense.

/message_topic.aspx?topic=474628

Quote :

""if you don't have anything good to say, don't say it at all""

if you don't have anything good to listen/read, don't listen/read it at all

[Edited on October 8, 2007 at 12:19 AM. Reason : linky linky]

10/8/2007 12:15:58 AM

i fired somebody over their blog

10/8/2007 9:05:17 AM

if you're dumb enough to post stupid personal/work things on the internet, then i don't feel sorry for you if you lose your job over it.

10/8/2007 9:22:35 AM

Soon enough we will have a little bit more to worry about than online blogs... RFID's will make our personal lives much easier to monitor. Big brother is watching

10/8/2007 10:08:10 AM

that's ok

round these parts, i AM big brother

10/8/2007 11:15:32 AM

"At Will"

10/8/2007 11:16:09 AM

i guy in egypt got 3 years in prison over his disdain of islam in a blog

10/8/2007 11:23:03 AM

i guy? sounds like a new gay apple product...

10/8/2007 11:50:45 AM

Wow.. the Nintendo chick that article talks about is pretty damn hot.

10/8/2007 2:06:59 PM

^ I'm inclined to agree.

10/8/2007 2:39:52 PM

Quote :

"gay apple product"

Redundant.

10/9/2007 8:05:55 AM

from the article:

Quote :

""Thank god one of us is working." She sighs. "Ten years ago, someone would never get fired for their blog. This is such a sign of the times." "

durrrrr.....10 years ago no one knew what a blog was.

10/9/2007 8:11:10 AM

haha, yeah, they didn't quite exist then, at least not in their current form. I don't think the word was even made up until sometime after 2000.

that was back in the days of scour.net and hotbot.

10/9/2007 9:17:41 AM

haha


i remember hotbot.




it was supposed to be the king of search engines.

10/9/2007 9:18:53 AM

damn...she IS hot

10/9/2007 9:43:43 AM

online diaries have been around before the internet started in 1992. It wasn't till the mid 90's till the word 'blog' started to be used to describe online diaries and it wasn't well known until the late 90's. Now people can't get enough of them and can't keep their big mouths shut.

And she is quite hot.

10/9/2007 11:03:25 AM

Quote :

"damn...she IS hot"

10/9/2007 11:35:56 AM

ha ha ha, this one hits kind of close to home. TECHNICALLY though, i was fired for reckless driving. because i almost ran an 18 wheeler off the road in a dodge minivan...

[Edited on October 9, 2007 at 11:43 AM. Reason : .]

10/9/2007 11:42:45 AM

^^^
looks like 1999 was the 'official' christening of the word 'blog'

http://www.economist.com/surveys/displaystory.cfm?story_id=6794172

10/9/2007 1:02:40 PM

stalk stalk stalk stalk

10/9/2007 1:15:19 PM

She's been hired by these guys, but she seems to be a pretty awful writer: http://www.ripten.com/2007/10/04/im-pissed-off/

10/10/2007 7:02:09 AM

^

Quote :

"Average Rating: 2.9 out of 10"

10/10/2007 10:35:54 AM

Haha, her diary has moved to an IGN-like clone. This was in response to her first post, titled "I’m Pissed Off …"

Quote :

"A very sterile and bland article, but much better than your last one. Thank you for not offending gamers in general."

10/10/2007 11:30:34 AM

damn talk about DSLs

10/10/2007 11:41:06 AM