Just Like Facebook, Going Public Could Cost You Big [HorroR Stories]

Dear Madame HR, Recently, in your FMLA post, you advised that the person send in baby pictures to their boss. This surprised me. I’m always worried about revealing too much personal information at work and to my co-workers. Isn’t it better to be cautious? -Prince Harry Dear Your Highness, Wow, in 2012 this seems like an unusual question. Doesn’t everyone have a Facebook page nowadays? Is there such a thing as “revealing too much personal information?” Well, yes, there is, but still who gives a shit? I mean this is America after all, where the minutia of our everyday lives and innermost thoughts has suddenly become quality content for several websites. Nothing makes us feel more important than 12 people liking our status update regarding the current health status of our cat. Especially when half of those 12 people are people we haven’t seen or talked to face to face in 20 years. But reeling it back in to the workplace, there is a lot being said about social networking and HR. We’ve all read the horror stories of so-and-so getting fired because he posted a picture of himself being crazy in Cancun that his boss or HR department saw. Or some other so-and-so didn’t get a job because the recruiter Googled him and saw a bunch of pictures of him kissing another man. We can all get indignant—that this is our personal life and blah, blah, blah, nobody’s business, blah, blah, blah. Well, sure, like everything in life, it’s all fun and games until you’re held accountable for it, but I’m not going to preach, because I imagine my particular views on this subject aren’t the popular views. But what I can do is make a plea to all you social butterflies out...