Stupid Facebook Posts Lead to Trouble

There are some people making really stupid Facebook posts out there. I'm talking monumentally stupid. And I just don't get it. If you're going to post something really stupid on Facebook, at least make your profile private and know who your 'friends' are.

I don't think making stupid Facebook posts necessarily means a person is stupid, but it sure does show a lack of common sense. Are you using your brain when you post that you aren't really sick when you called in sick to work (and your boss is a Facebook friend), or that you've stolen something from work (or other places), that you're having an affair, or write disparaging (or maybe even slanderous) things about your boss or employer?

To prove my point about stupid Facebook posts, I present some that are so stupid they made the news:

According to a Yahoo! story, a juror in Detroit was removed from the jury (and may face charges) after making the incredibly stupid Facebook post-while the trial was ongoing-that she thought the defendant was guilty. The defense lawyer's son found the post.

WISN in Milwaukee ran a story about a localpolice dispatcher who may lose her job after she wrote a post on her Facebook page that said she was addicted to prescription drugs and marijuana. That's a stupid Facebook post if ever there was one.

According to an article on EMS1.com, a New York EMS Lieutenant's job is at risk after he took a picture of a computer screen showing a patient's medical information and posted it on Facebook without deleting any of the personal information. That's another really stupid Facebook post.

Stupid Facebook posts have also been used as evidence in court, mostly in cases of divorce. For instance, Knoxnews.com ran a story about a woman who wrote about a new 'friend' and posted pictures of them together; turns out the friend was married. His wife's divorce lawyer found the post, and used it.

In other cases, people who claimed in court that they didn't drink or party were caught in a lie when Facebook photos of them doing just that were presented as evidence.

Facebook is not your priest, doctor, or lawyer, folks. Confidentiality does not apply! Facebook is great for what it is, but only when used with common sense. If you use it to bare your deepest darkest secrets, at least make sure you know who your friends are, and who might be reading what you post.

Or, maybe not. Maybe people dumb enough to make these kinds of stupid Facebook posts should be found out.

Sources:

Yahoo!, Associated Press, Facebook Post Gets Detroit-area Juror in Hot Water, August, 30, 2010

WISN.com, Local Police Dispatcher Could Lose Job Over Facebook Post, June 1, 2010

EMSI1.com, NYC EMS Lieutenant May Lose Job Over Facebook Post, Prank, by Ginger Adams Otis, June 29, 2010

Knoxnews.com, Knoxville Divorce Lawyers Call Facebook, MySpace Friends in Court, by Allison Rupp, August 7, 2010