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Person lands an internship at NASA. Announces this to Twitter via profanity laced tweet. Receives one word reply from Homer Hickam, formerly of NASA, now with the National Space Council, which has oversight of NASA saying "language". Person responds to Hickam's tweet with even worse profanity laced reply, and loses the internship. Hickam was not responsible for the lost internship.
The comments on the article are insane. Most are deflection based on "what about Trump", which has absolutely zero to do with the issue at hand. Others rail about free speech. Freedom of speech does mean freedom from consequence. Shockingly, even when members of the recent college graduate generation make well reasoned comments explaining that there are consequences for cursing out leadership at your potential new employer, others pile on in support of the fired intern.
Person lands an internship at NASA. Announces this to Twitter via profanity laced tweet. Receives one word reply from Homer Hickam, formerly of NASA, now with the National Space Council, which has oversight of NASA saying "language". Person responds to Hickam's tweet with even worse profanity laced reply, and loses the internship. Hickam was not responsible for the lost internship.
The comments on the article are insane. Most are deflection based on "what about Trump", which has absolutely zero to do with the issue at hand. Others rail about free speech. Freedom of speech does mean freedom from consequence. Shockingly, even when members of the recent college graduate generation make well reasoned comments explaining that there are consequences for cursing out leadership at your potential new employer, others pile on in support of the fired intern.
I found it an interesting story to follow. Mr. Hickam noted that he had nothing to do with the intern being fired, and he even spoke of helping her find another situation afterwards.
Young people must learn that their social interactions on the media can have consequences. If I hired someone based on their resume and interview appearance, and then saw that on social media they are a completely different person, I would indeed have second thoughts.
The NASA people must have thought "If she responds in this manner to a mild rebuke consisting of the single word, 'language', how will she respond to correction by supervisors". Perhaps not face-to-face, but on social media?
It is a changed world from my youth. If I, as a young man, was upset (as I often was) by a reprimand by a supervisor, I would go home and curse to my hearts content. However, said supervisor would have viewed my actions with a dim view if I went out to the parking lot and began screaming profanities to strangers concerning my supervisor.
Person lands an internship at NASA. Announces this to Twitter via profanity laced tweet. Receives one word reply from Homer Hickam, formerly of NASA, now with the National Space Council, which has oversight of NASA saying "language". Person responds to Hickam's tweet with even worse profanity laced reply, and loses the internship. Hickam was not responsible for the lost internship.
The comments on the article are insane. Most are deflection based on "what about Trump", which has absolutely zero to do with the issue at hand. Others rail about free speech. Freedom of speech does mean freedom from consequence. Shockingly, even when members of the recent college graduate generation make well reasoned comments explaining that there are consequences for cursing out leadership at your potential new employer, others pile on in support of the fired intern.
I find myself thinking: what does profanity have to do with doing your job at NASA well? Unless they're working for public relations, I'm thinking not a whole lot.
If NASA wants them fired, that's their decision and it's understandable, but I'd prefer a culture where we don't mind this stuff. I don't think anybody's going to see the tweet of a NASA employee or intern and think "That's what NASA thinks as an organization," unless they state it on a NASA website or something more official than Twitter, unless it's NASA's official Twitter.
I remember awhile ago how a NASA employee was getting flack from people do to wearing an inappropriate shirt during an interview where he talked about some great discovery or other. Who cares and why would they?
I found it an interesting story to follow. Mr. Hickam noted that he had nothing to do with the intern being fired, and he even spoke of helping her find another situation afterwards.
Kind of pathetic that he felt he had to be seen to make an effort to help this person, probably out of fear at the damage she and her fellow freaks might do to him on the internet for being such an uppity old white man.
I found it an interesting story to follow. Mr. Hickam noted that he had nothing to do with the intern being fired, and he even spoke of helping her find another situation afterwards.
Young people must learn that their social interactions on the media can have consequences. If I hired someone based on their resume and interview appearance, and then saw that on social media they are a completely different person, I would indeed have second thoughts.
The NASA people must have thought "If she responds in this manner to a mild rebuke consisting of the single word, 'language', how will she respond to correction by supervisors". Perhaps not face-to-face, but on social media?
It is a changed world from my youth. If I, as a young man, was upset (as I often was) by a reprimand by a supervisor, I would go home and curse to my hearts content. However, said supervisor would have viewed my actions with a dim view if I went out to the parking lot and began screaming profanities to strangers concerning my supervisor.
What’s changed is the increased opportunity to be heard ( via social media).
Only thing any of us really control is our own reaction.
Many people of all ages do not appear to have adequate emotional maturity to envision potential consequences associated with their posts to social media.
I find myself thinking: what does profanity have to do with doing your job at NASA well? Unless they're working for public relations, I'm thinking not a whole lot.
If NASA wants them fired, that's their decision and it's understandable, but I'd prefer a culture where we don't mind this stuff. I don't think anybody's going to see the tweet of a NASA employee or intern and think "That's what NASA thinks as an organization," unless they state it on a NASA website or something more official than Twitter, unless it's NASA's official Twitter.
This is why I don't mention my employer on any social media accounts or profiles (other than LinkedIn which I dont really use other than to network).
Social Media is a big thing in 2018 Corporate America. I have to take 3 ethics training classes a year about what I can and can't do on social media. The reason we have it is for exactly what you say you can't understand, people complain and do associate employees statements with employers values/beliefs. Our society is made up of largely loud whiny complainers who get triggered over trivial nonsense (and this cuts across political persuasions, snowflakes wear both colors).
Further, my current employer has a BYOD policy as it pertains to phones. But if you choose to use your personal device, you have to install an app that provides them remote admin rights to the entire device. The same policy is applied if I add their name to my Facebook profile.
A previous employer had a policy where if you had social media accounts, you had to follow their style guide on them; appropriate/professional profile pictures, posts had to be reviewed by them before you could post etc.
Obviously I bought a second phone because my employer will never have admin rights to my phone. And I left that previous employer within weeks of that announcement (for a multitude of reasons, but that policy was on the pile of why).
If you want to work at NASA and don’t know who Homer Hickam is, well, you’re too stupid to work there.
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