Workers Fired For MySpace Comments

[ahsingjai]

Workers Fired For Online Comments
Co-Workers Offended By Remarks

http://www.10news.com/news/4818417/detail.html

SAN DIEGO -- More than two dozen San Diego Auto Club employees have been fired for what they wrote online.

The 27 employees were fired after at least one co-worker complained about feeling harassed by what they wrote on Myspace.com.

The Web site is popular for social networking and posting messages.

An Auto Club spokesperson says the fired employees made comments on Myspace.com about other workers' weight and sexual orientation and discussed plans to slow down roadside assistance.

[bluemonq]

free speech is free speech. but a work contract is a work contract. if there was anything in the terms and conditions that allowed for such a reason for termination - well, tough luck bub, but you knew or should have known that it was in there.

everyone's existentially free to do whatever they want. they just have to be ready to accept the consequences.

[Faithless]

Then there's the story of the dumb teens who thought it was cute to post their own naughtyness on myspace.

...
Teresa Avila is among the parents horrified by her pre-teen's MySpace Web pages: Her daughter's name, photograph and personal information were posted for all of cyberspace to see.

The 12-year-old had listed the details of her personal life during a visit to a friend's house. The Plantation mom made her remove her photo, alter revealing details and limit who can look her up.
...
A 17-year-old from Pompano Beach lists his "porn star name" as "Rod Stallion."
...

Social web site is hit with teens, but MySpace's explicit content worries parents

By Lois K. Solomon * Education Writer * Posted November 25 2005

A Web site bursting with big-breasted women and profanity has become the rage among South Florida middle-school students, who lie about their ages so they blog on MySpace.

The stunning popularity of the social networking site, which has more page views per month than eBay and Google, allows users to create their own blogs and meet friends with similar interests.

But it also is forcing parents of pre-teens to rethink their Internet-access rules and renegotiate what their children are allowed to view. They say it is almost impossible to supervise every site their children visit, and some sites that seem innocuous are proving inappropriate for young teens.

Teresa Avila is among the parents horrified by her pre-teen's MySpace Web pages: Her daughter's name, photograph and personal information were posted for all of cyberspace to see.

The 12-year-old had listed the details of her personal life during a visit to a friend's house. The Plantation mom made her remove her photo, alter revealing details and limit who can look her up.

"I decided it was better for me to reason with her and meet her in the middle," Avila said. "If I say no, then she goes around me."

Parent Susie Jacobs of Boca Raton said she was alarmed by suggestive photographs and foul language on MySpace.

She said an Internet interloper added profanities to her sixth-grade son's blog. Her eighth-grade daughter deleted his page and her own page when she heard a rumor about kidnappings of girls who posted their pictures.

"If you take the time to go on it, you'll want your kids off it," Jacobs said.

The site, used by 39 million young people and 660,000 artists and bands, allows visitors to design their own Web pages with photos, colors, decorations and lots of personal information. Friends can send e-mails to the site and rate fellow users according to their looks.

Musicians -- including Madonna, Coldplay, Depeche Mode and even Neil Diamond -- have premiered songs to MySpace users, who can join groups based on their religious, sports, nightlife, food and other preferences.

Mass-marketers such as Target and new movies, including Walk The Line advertise on the site.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. bought MySpace's parent company over the summer for $580 million, attesting to the financial kick the media giant expects to receive from the site's target audience, 16- to 34-year-old hipsters.

MySpace is not for children under 14, according to its posted rules, and the site reserves the right to delete personalized pages without warning if supervisors find rule violations. Users also are not supposed to post their last names, addresses, phone numbers, nudity or violence.

"MySpace recognizes the anonymous nature and safety concerns the Internet poses and treats this very seriously and with the utmost of concern," spokeswoman Rena Grant said in an e-mail. "MySpace operates under a comprehensive series of guidelines and solutions, which we believe represent the best practices in our industry. MySpace has a dedicated customer support team that provides members and parents with a mechanism for user feedback, reporting and rapid response."

Still, the sexual images are abundant. A Florida Atlantic University student calls herself "Easy Lover" and warns "Better forget it, cause you'll never get it."

A 17-year-old from Pompano Beach lists his "porn star name" as "Rod Stallion."

Parry Aftab, an Internet security expert who founded wiredsafety.org., warns parents they will see their children write things on the Web they would never hear them say in regular conversations.

"They are going to use foul language," she said. "Ignore it."

She said parents should become concerned when they observe their children communicating with strangers, posting provocative photos or discussing their involvement with sex, drugs, cutting or illegal activities.

Aftab said children enter troublesome activities on the Internet when they get bored. So it's important to limit their time. She recommends one hour a day.

Mitch Spero, a psychologist with offices in Plantation and Weston, said parents should make clear to their kids that nothing is private on the Internet.

"Kids think only their friends will see what they write," Spero said. "Once something is in writing, it can surface years later."

Several families have come for counseling because their children met people outside their age group on the Internet, Spero said. He recommends parents develop trusting relationships with their kids and make sure the door to the family computer room is always open.

Colin Boyle, 18, graduated from Olympic Heights High School west of Boca Raton in the spring and has used MyµSpace to publicize his punk bands, The Day We Die and Royal Assassins. He said he joined the site because all his friends did about a year and a half ago but has since gotten bored with it.

"It became so popular it was all everyone talked about," he said. "It kind of got old."

Aftab agrees that many MySpace users soon will be seeking the next youth cyber-trend, which she believes she has identified: iPod pornography, which is more easily hidden from parents.

[jongeh]

this is why i never got a myspace.
people are crazy. period.

[uhhden]

Joining networking sites is like announcing your presence and vulnerability to internet thieves, pedophiles, and perverts...how do you expect people to behave when they think they're hiding behind a veil of anonymity? Dumbasses.

[Leinad]

Originally Posted by jongeh

this is why i never got a myspace.
people are crazy. period.

u no what i did? I blocked the ppl i didn't want seeing my space,

[uhhden]

Originally Posted by Leinad

u no what i did? I blocked the ppl i didn't want seeing my space,

Better yet...why not just NOT get the MySpace...

[Leinad]

Originally Posted by uhhden

Better yet...why not just NOT get the MySpace...

lol cuz if there is any fun in it, u wont be getting ne if u dont have 1

[bluemonq]

this just about says it all:

[uhhden]

Originally Posted by Leinad

lol cuz if there is any fun in it, u wont be getting ne if u dont have 1

I guess I'm not being very fun then -__-;;

[Faithless]

Originally Posted by bluemonq

this just about says it all:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2004/20040319h.jpg

Here I thought that was a Banana orginal saying.

[Chad]

they must have all ganged up on the guy for all 27 to get fired at once. maybe they all posted nasty comments about him at once.
it would be a nightmare if my profile was exposed at work!

[Leinad]

Originally Posted by uhhden

I guess I'm not being very fun then -__-;;

lol cheer up buddy... ur probably more fun than a 79yo

[Azn Retribution]

"Internet Expert"
"Anaylst"

hahahahhahahhahah.

don't even need to comment on how stupid the people in that article are