Social Media Advice

RocketMedic

Californian, Lost in Texas
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This is primarily oriented towards the newer people in this field, but bears consideration for all of us.

Obviously, social media is a thing. Facebook, Twitter, EMTLife, Instagram, etc. It’s not going away. So, here’s some advice.
1. Don’t engage cults of personality or pages. There’s more than a few of them on Facebook, especially ones linked to people who style themselves to be change agents. Even the “trendy”, edgy ones who say the right things and seem supportive are suspect. It’s OK to browse, to giggle, etc. But don’t comment or like!
1A. Opinions can be dangerous. Cults of personality, especially when they are in alignment with trends at your employer, are even more dangerous with their opinions because they’ll tend to communicate between one another and they’ll often view any criticism of that opinion, trend, etc as a personal insult. Never assume that even a reasonable disagreement will be construed in its intended context. Always assume that criticism, even constructive criticism or inputs, will be viewed as a personal attack. There’s a lot of snowflakes out there, and most of them will get angry if you challenge them, and they’re the kind of snowflakes that will deliberately melt on your tacos.

2. ANYTHING YOU SAY, CAN AND WILL BE MISCONSTRUED AND ABUSED!
People, especially those who often lead in EMS agencies, are not particularly inclined to consider context, audience or even what you said. That typically means that you’re already wrong for saying anything. Additionally, most social-media policies are written in an incredibly broad fashion, so that any commentary you make (regardless of content) can be warped to fit a narrative, regardless of topic, context or audience.

3. Maintain a layer of anonymity: It’s OK for certain people to know who you are online. Don’t make those people your employer without a lot of trust and good reason. Along those lines, don’t engage the aforementioned Cults of Personality. Don’t discuss things with them, don’t argue with them, and definitely don’t do it under a Facebook tag.

Basically, don’t engage people on Facebook, even if they sound smart
 

DrParasite

The fire extinguisher is not just for show
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I practice #3. I don't have a professional facebook page. you will not find a FB page that has my first name and last name anywhere on it. I have an account that I use to manage my department's official page, and a nameless FB account, but that's it.

Social media has killed many careers, especially in public safety or education, because the opinions voiced were not popular for the masses, or because the actions taken were frowned up. This can be as simple as defending a cop during an officer involved shooting, or voicing your displeasure at those people who kneel during the national anthem, or sharing a photo from the chapel show that some people find offensive. Or my personal favorite, taking a picture with a drink in your hand while vacationing in Europe (yes, it happened).

There are certain groups of people who are incredibly thin skinned, and will take anything you say as a personal attack. They will find your information, file complaints with your employer, and get you terminated, if you post something that offends them. even if that wasn't your intent, even if they are assuming facts not in evidence. If their feelings get hurt, they will start a petition to get you fired, even if your comment had nothing to do with your job. It doesn't matter if your opinion was valid, or justified, if it goes against their agenda, they will find a way to retaliate. It's not worth it.

There is a reason why more and more people are either deleting or scrubbing their facebook pages.

Oh, and remember one thing: once you post something on social media, it is there forever. even if you delete it. even if it's in a private group. even if it's shared just with your friends. my career is worth more to me than a social media account. is yours?
 

VFlutter

Flight Nurse
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I try to maintain plausible deniability for my social media posts
 

mgr22

Forum Deputy Chief
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I'm glad RocketMedic and DrParasite raised this topic. I agree with their concerns about the dangers of social media, and I've seen people in our industry compromise their standing with posts, but I view other parts of the argument differently; specifically, I'm just as likely to blame myself as others if I get pushback for a post. I think the challenge for all of us is to be civil always, and to pick our spots when a discussion calls for a more strident tone.

One of the best examples I've seen of turfing blame to those who don't like what we say is the statement, "Offense isn't given, it's taken." I've seen that posted several times on other sites. I think that remark too conveniently places responsibility for antagonism on the people who happen to read what we write. I'd be surprised if there are any among us who'd willingly take the blame every time they're offended.

As for anonymity, it seems to work well here. I think that has a lot to do with strong moderators. In general, though, I think the accountability that comes with attaching one's name to a post helps with quality control.
 

NomadicMedic

I know a guy who knows a guy.
12,098
6,845
113
This is primarily oriented towards the newer people in this field, but bears consideration for all of us.

Obviously, social media is a thing. Facebook, Twitter, EMTLife, Instagram, etc. It’s not going away. So, here’s some advice.
1. Don’t engage cults of personality or pages. There’s more than a few of them on Facebook, especially ones linked to people who style themselves to be change agents. Even the “trendy”, edgy ones who say the right things and seem supportive are suspect. It’s OK to browse, to giggle, etc. But don’t comment or like!
1A. Opinions can be dangerous. Cults of personality, especially when they are in alignment with trends at your employer, are even more dangerous with their opinions because they’ll tend to communicate between one another and they’ll often view any criticism of that opinion, trend, etc as a personal insult. Never assume that even a reasonable disagreement will be construed in its intended context. Always assume that criticism, even constructive criticism or inputs, will be viewed as a personal attack. There’s a lot of snowflakes out there, and most of them will get angry if you challenge them, and they’re the kind of snowflakes that will deliberately melt on your tacos.

2. ANYTHING YOU SAY, CAN AND WILL BE MISCONSTRUED AND ABUSED!
People, especially those who often lead in EMS agencies, are not particularly inclined to consider context, audience or even what you said. That typically means that you’re already wrong for saying anything. Additionally, most social-media policies are written in an incredibly broad fashion, so that any commentary you make (regardless of content) can be warped to fit a narrative, regardless of topic, context or audience.

3. Maintain a layer of anonymity: It’s OK for certain people to know who you are online. Don’t make those people your employer without a lot of trust and good reason. Along those lines, don’t engage the aforementioned Cults of Personality. Don’t discuss things with them, don’t argue with them, and definitely don’t do it under a Facebook tag.

Basically, don’t engage people on Facebook, even if they sound smart


Advice you should have taken a year or two ago. Let’s not mince words... you’re inflammatory in your posting and you like to piss people off. You need to own it.
 

DrParasite

The fire extinguisher is not just for show
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One of the best examples I've seen of turfing blame to those who don't like what we say is the statement, "Offense isn't given, it's taken." I've seen that posted several times on other sites. I think that remark too conveniently places responsibility for antagonism on the people who happen to read what we write. I'd be surprised if there are any among us who'd willingly take the blame every time they're offended.
Part of the problem is certain people's offense results in the termination of said offender, while others are ignored, because of their race or gender.

For example:
https://defensemaven.io/bluelivesma...-thin-blue-line-flags-5qe0Dr8Hnk6d7IHZc7l9Ng/
https://fox40.com/2019/01/15/thin-blue-line-flag-sparks-debate-in-sacramento-region/
https://www.libertyheadlines.com/gay-bar-apologizes-for-flying-blue-lives-matter-flag/
https://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/201...of-racist-thin-blue-line-flag-after-shooting/
https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2019/01/15/davis-officer-thin-blue-line-flag/
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tod...police-officer-holding-blue-lives-matter-flag
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...s-narrowly-vote-against-police-in-parade.html https://defensemaven.io/bluelivesma...fficers-from-marching-90OUuLAdskOSCoalgnN5QA/
https://defensemaven.io/bluelivesma...tudents-deemed-racist-15fOo4N_fESxGgc5pGOYEA/

I guarantee that there was no punishment issues to any of these students for these grossly offensive statements, nor anything done to the person who belonged to the group who said to acquire them by any means necessary, except for paying for them.

But if you support something that goes against their personal opinions, even if they are completely not based on reality or anything other than hurt feelings....
triggered-meme-gif-3.gif
 

akflightmedic

Forum Deputy Chief
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Let me take it to a whole 'nother level...completely hypothetical of course. Please note the HYPOTHETICAL.

Friend A (Male Paramedic) and Friend B (Female Paramedic/RN) have been friends x 18 years. They have shared YEARS of facebook, words with friends, skype, whatsap exchanges. Families hung out together...worked together for years doing EMS, lot of jokes of every flavor and comments exchanged.

Friend A starts a business and hires Friend B. Friend B is good employee for many years and of course the closeness (non-sexual) but very friendly relationship continues. Friend A never stopped treating Friend B as he always had.

Friend A allegedly catches Friend B diverting narcotics. When approaching Friend B and setting up rehab, Friend B obtains legal counsel and files hostile and sexual harassment claims. Friend B provides YEARS worth of material and despite the long standing friendship which pre-dated the boss/employee relationship, in the eyes of the law...all those SOCIAL MEDIA posts were considered as evidence. #MeToo has gripped the nation and Friend B rode the wave.

Friend A never thought he would one day have a business, never thought he should discontinue a social media relationship, never thought any of that would ever be "evidence". Friend B received very large settlement allegedly. Friend A was the scourge, depraved typical male. Friend B never got the help she needs, only cash. Friend A lost more than that BS 7 figure settlement.

Folks...Social Media.

The above was a fictional account of a hypothetical situation of my own creation, if it represents any events or people in real life, it is completely unintentional. The lesson is to reinforce how life crushing social media can be and how it can truly cause great harm many years down the road. So while you think there is no harm now in posting now, no harm in a month or two, you really need to give great thought to where you will be in 5 years or more...and none of us ever really know that, do we?
 

soflomedic14

Forum Crew Member
54
15
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Social media doesn’t kill careers, idiots who chose to engage inapropriately ruin their own career. MANY MANY people maintain social media and a job. If you choose to be dumb, you might have a consequence and that’s that.
 

akflightmedic

Forum Deputy Chief
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And you would be surprised what is considered "inappropriate" once the legal system is involved.
 

DrParasite

The fire extinguisher is not just for show
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and you would be surprised what is considered "inappropriate" once someone complains, makes a huge deal about something and it becomes a PR disaster for your employer.
 

mgr22

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and you would be surprised what is considered "inappropriate" once someone complains, makes a huge deal about something and it becomes a PR disaster for your employer.

The hypotheticals are getting harder to follow. Can you offer an example?
 

DrParasite

The fire extinguisher is not just for show
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Carlos Danger

Forum Deputy Chief
Premium Member
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Social media doesn’t kill careers, idiots who chose to engage inapropriately ruin their own career. MANY MANY people maintain social media and a job. If you choose to be dumb, you might have a consequence and that’s that.
Did you read the hypothetical story? No one did anything "dumb". I am witnessing a somewhat similar thing going on with an acquaintance of mine right now.

So what's your take on that? Teacher's fault? School's fault? Parents' fault? Facebook's fault?
Who was actually at fault (the school) is wholly irrelevant.

The important point is that when you post on social media, you are creating a public and permanent record of evidence of what someone, somewhere, at some point, could potentially perceive as wrongdoing. If that person has any influence in your life, or is able to whip up the sensitivities of those who do, it could potentially affect you quite negatively. There's lots of examples of this stuff.

Given the hyper-PC, "it's cool to have really thin skin" culture of our time, almost everything that you say or do will offend the crap out of someone. Something you or I would perceive as completely innocuous or no one else's business will be considered racist or mysogynistic or harassment otherwise in very poor taste by someone else.
 

mgr22

Forum Deputy Chief
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"Who was actually at fault (the school) is wholly irrelevant."

I agree. Having the right to post stuff doesn't mean it's a good idea. Going public with something private was risky even before Facebook. Social media just ups the ante by giving more people a chance to judge.
 

DrParasite

The fire extinguisher is not just for show
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So what's your take on that? Teacher's fault? School's fault? Parents' fault? Facebook's fault?
Since you asked.... In this case the fault is split between the school and the teacher. The fault lies with the school for not defending the teacher when someone complained about her performing a completely legal act while on vacation.

And the fault lies on the teacher for resigning at the request of the school, vs having them terminate her, which prevented her from being able to successfully sue for wrongful termination.

But this should have been a non-issue, as the school should not have even considered taking a disciplinary action on something that had nothing to do with them.
 

akflightmedic

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mgr22

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Do not have students as Friends on FB, do not have Parents as Friends on FB, do NOT have employees as Friends on FB. That should be a safe-ish start...

I'd just add that people representing themselves in environments shared by prospective employers or clients should carefully choose their words, photos, biographical details, etc. The conclusions reached by audiences aren't always fair, but they can and do affect careers -- sometimes in subtle ways.
 

Eir

Forum Probie
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Let me take it to a whole 'nother level...completely hypothetical of course. Please note the HYPOTHETICAL.

This example would have been much more effective without the strong bias. Maybe pick a less inflammatory example?
 
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