You wouldn’t think someone would be fired for 3 words.
But Jeffrey Cox, Indiana deputy Attorney General, was terminated by the Indiana Attorney General for a number of offensive tweets he sent out on February 19th.
We were surprised in the Indianapolis community, not only by the quickness of the developments — Cox was investigated on the morning of Feb. 23, and fired that same afternoon — but also because such a public figure as a deputy AG would make such publicly heinous statements.
According to an article on the Mother Jones website, Cox tweeted that he believed Madison police should “use live ammunition” when dealing with protesters at Wisconsin’s state capitol.
What Cox failed to understand is that social media is public and permanent. If you put out good stuff, and are helpful and supportive, it can prove valuable later on. But if you say something hateful and nasty, it may come back to haunt you, sooner rather than later.
It can hurt your reputation, you can lose your job, and in some cases, you could badly damage, or even end, your career. Even if you try to keep a wall between your personal life and your professional life, social media has broken it down. Something you say in private can become a problem for your work life, and vice versa.
In short, be true to who you are, but if that you is a jerk, then you don’t need change your online behavior. You need to rethink your whole approach to life.
The fact is, social media has tripped up people making rather awful statements, exposing what people think are private jokes or “only a little mean.” What you might see as snarky, or even a bad attempt at dark humor, can end badly. It can be something as minor as public embarrassment, or something as major as being fired in as public a manner as possible, and being a story on the 11:00 news, as well as making headlines in the London Daily Mail.
I was interviewed by WISH TV and Debby Knox (@Debby_Knox) last night for the 11:00 news, and asked about the potential damage Cox did to himself because of his public missteps.
“Unfortunately, this sort of thing will follow him around forever,” I said. “When someone, like a new employer, Googles his name — even 10 years from now — this story will forever be associated with it.”
I don’t know if this is irony or just an odd coincidence, but nearly 10 hours earlier, I had spoken to the Young Professionals of Central Indiana — including several attorneys — about the reasons they need to be on social media, personal branding being the biggest reason of all.
Social Media Affects Personal Branding
What that means for anyone who uses social media is that we need to remember that recruiters are searching for us online. If they find you tweeted about how police should shoot fellow citizens, you can guarantee you’ll be dropped from the candidate pool immediately. If you post your “Spring Break” photos on Facebook, they’ll be held against you. If you write blog post after blog post calling the other political party a bunch of Socialists or Fascists, people won’t want to work with you.
Social media does not let people whisper dirty jokes or make offensive statements among friends. Social media blasts out everyone’s messages, and exposes character flaws and moments of indiscretion.
Cox says this is a matter of his First Amendment rights being quashed. And that this was satire, and he “wanted to make people think.” While that may be the case, it’s also a matter of his reputation, now horribly stained and tarnished. Sure, you’re free to say these sorts of things, but when you’re a public servant in a visible agency and position, you should be held to a higher standard.
The lesson here is be careful of what you say online. A career you spent ten years growing can be undone in mere seconds. Things you meant for a few people can become widespread in a matter of hours, or even minutes. In Cox’s case, 3 words, and the subsequent deeper-hole-digging tweets, became an international story, and resulted in him losing his job in the most embarrassing manner possible.
The things that make social media awesome also make it dangerous. It’s a double-edged sword, so handle it with care.
My book, Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself (affiliate link), is available on Amazon.com, as well as at Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores. I wrote it with my good friend, Kyle Lacy.
I agree with your post but I wanted to point out that there are several organizations/groups out there that actually support or agree with Cox’s comment. It may have cost him the Deputy AG job but there are plenty of job opportunities for outspoken, vitriolic individuals. Ironically, this occurrence could actually enhance his burgeoning reputation in those circles. The internet makes it easier for bad apples to find a suitable orchard.
To follow-up on Robby’s comment, there is an exemption to First Amendment rights for comments that “incite imminent lawless action.” “Use live ammunition” could certainly fall into that category.
Good points Robbie. I was telling my wife the same thing.
I challenge Mr. Cox’s assertion that he was being satirical and funny. My impression is he is conveying what is really in his heart. There is no way to take what he said as satire.
I agree with you that it is a social issue. People have been hiding behind their “email” since the mid-90s. Now social media just puts it on the world wide web and amplifies it.
The First Amendment ensures that Jeff Cox has every right to say (and Tweet) whatever he wants.
It does NOT ensure that he will get to keep his job if he make stupid, mean comments.
As I wrote several years ago, this is not really a social media issue as much as it is a social issue. If Mr. Cox is willing to make inappropriate and hateful comments in one forum, what does he really believe about the rule of law in his own mind?
Social media merely makes public what people have been saying for centuries in smaller forums. It exposes people doing what is right as well as what is wrong.