How Not To Lose Your Job Over A Social Media Post

Remember, once you put it out there, you can't take it back.

- Sasha Gonzales

In June this year, an American woman, Lexi Larson, openly discussed her expenses on the social media app Tiktok. In her video, Lexi, from Denver, Colorado, also shared that she'd just landed a new job in the tech industry, and along with it, a US$20,000-a-year pay increase.

It seemed innocuous enough - Lexi even mentioned that she was enjoying her job, as reported in the New York Post but her bosses didn't approve of the video and fired her over it.

They "really, really did not like" that she was sharing her salary, according to a follow-up video she posted, two weeks after the previous one.

"They said (that) me having this account was a security concern because I could post something private about the company," she explained.

"I asked, 'Have I broken any policies? Have I posted anything on Tiktok that is a security concern?' And they said, not at this time I have not, but it could happen at any time in the future, so they're just not going to take that risk."

TO POST OR NOT TO POST?

If you have a personal social media account and a job, you're likely aware that what you like, post, share and comment on can have an impact on your professional position as well as on your company.

Some organizations have a social media policy. Some are embedded as clauses within your contract, while others are part of the code of conduct. They essentially specify how employees should conduct themselves online and provide guidance on the use of social media at work so we know that we could face disciplinary action, lose our job or even get into legal trouble if we posted content that our company deemed unacceptable.