Facebook users differ on announcing layoff
Users divided on posting update about getting the ax
By CARYN BROOKS
Don Ryan/AP
Geoffrey Abraham, pictured at his office in Portland, Ore., thinks using Facebook to post updates on joblessness makes a person appear desperate.
It happens to you. You're called into your boss's office and told that your job no longer exists. You go home in a daze and sign onto Facebook. There it is — a prompt asking: "What's on your mind?"
Do you tell your Facebook network that you've lost your job? Or do you resist the urge to broadcast this personal information across electronic channels?
Many are facing this dilemma in an era of both high unemployment rates and increased social networking. While there's no definitive etiquette, people do seem to have strong feelings about the practice of using a status update to alert the world that they've gotten the ax.
Geoffrey Abraham, an advertising copywriter in Portland, Ore., thinks Facebook is no place to hang up your shingle. On his blog www.looklefty.blogspot.com, his rant-filled post "Let's Keep Facebook Fun, People" takes to task people who complain about their unemployed status on the site.
"I understand that what I am witnessing is a sign of the times. In real time. I can even imagine these downtrodden folks thinking, 'Hey, I have a lot of friends in here. Maybe one of them can get me a job,' " he wrote. "But nothing is less attractive than desperation."
It might be easy to write off Abraham as a crank who doesn't appreciate what it's like to lose his job, but in fact he did this year (he's employed now). As he noted in the post, "The last thing I wanted all 356 of my 'friends' to know is that I was laid off. Most of those people don't even know what I do. It would be like putting on 60 pounds before my high school reunion and telling everyone I still live in my parents' basement."
Despite Abraham's belief that coming clean about your employment status seems desperate, many others feel like it gives them more control of their situation.
Christina Zila was laid off from her public relations job in Las Vegas at the beginning of April. "One of the first things I did, after packing up my stuff and going on a lunch date, was to tweet it," she said. "My reasoning at the time was that it was the most efficient way of letting my friends and contacts know what had happened."
She said that she phrased everything neutrally because she didn't want to burn any bridges. She ended up getting a few job leads, but more important than that, she says, was the support and understanding from friends around the world.
"It made it easier when I saw my friends in person, since we had already gotten past the ugly 'I got laid off' bit and we could move on to 'How's the job hunt going?' " she said. "Since being laid off has little or nothing to do with your personal performance, why should it be a secret? The more people who know that you're looking, the more eyes and ears are out there helping you search."
Zila ended up getting a job three weeks later. "That was announced on Twitter and Facebook as well, partially to get my new company some free PR," she said.
Dayna Steele, a social media trainer from Texas, advised people to carefully phrase your announcement.
"I would let my Facebook friends know I am in the job market, what it is I do, my expertise and what is I'm looking for," she said. "Then if someone asks, be transparent — you must tell the truth, that you were part of a layoff. But I don't see why you have to start with that."
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realman (anonymous) says...
Baloney. I'm on Facebook and I would want my friends to tell me if they've been laid off. I might not be able to help, but you never know. "A friend in need is a friend indeed" certainly applies.
July 4, 2009 at 12:22 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Bluebird63 (anonymous) says...
Let's keep facebook "real". There is nothing better than support whether it be good news or bad news! :)
July 4, 2009 at 12:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
nickl (anonymous) says...
I agree that there is nothing wrong with posting your status on facebook. That's why they ask what you are thinking. However, realman, you used that expression incorrectly. That phrase is meant that "friends" are always better friends when they need something from you.
July 4, 2009 at 3:32 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sardis12 (anonymous) says...
Good Lord, I'm so tired of hearing about this Facebook and Tweeting nonsense. Doesn't anybody have a life anymore?
July 4, 2009 at 4:06 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
vmirat90 (anonymous) says...
sardis, it is a great networking tool, not to mention I have located old high school and college friends that I haven't heard from in years. That being said, there are tons of losers who update their "every move" on facebook and really need to get lives. There is this one guy in my network (which I have now deleted because he is so damn annoying) that shows iphone pictures of what he is eating and grilling all of the time, along with stupid comments like "nom nom nom" and other moronic things.
Yes, they truly need to get lives. If used as a supplement to your life, not as a substitute, it is a great tool.
July 4, 2009 at 7:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
armymom (anonymous) says...
I know some facebook users who think we who post on a newspaper message boards all the time need to get a life.
I do both...I must be pathetic!
July 4, 2009 at 10:56 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Duchess (anonymous) says...
I posted on my FB when i got laid off. It was a great tool to vent and get the much needed suport to keep me from being depressed. i got positive feed back, encouragement, tools to help me seek new employment and even a job offer. I dont see anything negitive about posting your everyday happenings because thats what FB is all about. I would advise to try and stay positive about the situation incase prospective employers are viewing your post. You dont want to look like a bitter X with serious hang ups. That dude just has alot of pride and was embarrassed to tell his friends on FB he was laid off. True friends wont disown you because you trip, they'll help you back up. I say if your so vain, worry about what others might think of you and scared of judgement when they view you then what in the world r you doing on FB?I thought thats what FB was all about, connecting and getting to each other.
July 4, 2009 at 1:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
clc13 (anonymous) says...
Do you really have 356 "friends?" i.e. Do you really have 356 people that need to know every little thing about you. This is my problem with facebook--not every acquaintance of mine needs to know every little detail of my life. If you are a true friend of mine, you will know these things anyway. If you are merely an acquaintance, you may or may not know certain details depending on how I know you (i.e. a colleague from work would know I got layed off, but an acquaintance from the gym wouldn't necessarily know this). Maybe I am just too private of a person--I have just not gotten this whole facebook thing--really 356 friends! I probably know that many people, but as stated, do they really need to know everything about me? And don't even get me started about the people that post their vacations on facebook before and during the fact--an invitation to rob your house!
July 4, 2009 at 4:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
armymom (anonymous) says...
If you want to share, then share, if you don't, then don't. Problem solved!!
July 4, 2009 at 6:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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