What Happens Online…Goes Everywhere

Be conscious of what you post online as it may affect your career
By Scott Cook

I’ve written about this before, but it’s becoming a bigger issue. In fact, you’ll recall that around Feb. 11, Firefighter Jason Brown from Colleton County (S.C.) Fire-Rescue was fired for something he posted on his personal Facebook page. According to Brown’s termination letter, he was fired for displaying poor judgment, creating an embarrassing situation for the fire department, damaging the department’s public image and the relationship between the fire department and the Colleton Medical Center and violating the department’s “behavior unbecoming” clause. I’m not going to debate the right or wrong of Brown’s firing—there are too many variables involved in the situation that as of this writing we don’t know—but the prevalence of social media is having a direct impact on the workplace and people’s careers.

Before we go on, I should say that I do believe social networking sites are of great benefit to the fire service. We share training ideas and regional techniques and have tactical discussions. But there’s another side to the coin.

You likely think “What’s the big deal with what I put on my personal page? It’s my business.” And to a certain extent, you’re right. It’s your business, right up to the point you identify yourself as an employee or member of a certain employer. From that point on, anything you post immediately reflects on the agency you’ve aligned yourself with, and you can and should be held responsible for it.

I sat in a meeting recently where this very issue and its effects on the fire service were discussed. The discussion included occasions of firefighters posting video and photographs on their Web sites from inside and outside of working fires. In some cases it was done from a cell phone before companies even cleared from the scene. Imagine a local newspaper or news channel picking up a few of those and running them. Now the public is watching firefighters mug for pictures instead of putting out the fire.

Additionally, some of us are quite proud of our off-duty exploits. In 2006, a Marion County (Fla.) sheriff’s deputy was fired because he listed a few of his favorite things on his MySpace page—things like skinny dipping, heavy drinking and that’s not the worst of it. He identified himself as a department employee in his profile, and he even wore his uniform in his profile picture.

Just so you know, someone from your department is likely reviewing all of your postings.

Plus, you may be asked for all profile names, forum user IDs, email addresses, etc., when you apply for a new job or when the department wants to check up on what you’re posting or see how honest you are. You may get an “official notice” for an updated background check. You may think that you’ll just leave one or two of your profiles off the list.

Busted. And if they’re looking for a reason to fire you or not hire you, they just found it. People get paid big bucks to trace you online. And they’re very good—and very thorough. Your computer leaves its prints on every Web site you visit.

When you were hired on, you agreed to truthfully and fully cooperate with any investigation. It’s in the fine print of your policies and procedures manual. Trust me. Your chief (or municipality’s HR department) isn’t foolish enough to leave that sort of thing out in this day and age.

Look, you’re reading this on a social media site. As I’ve said in a previous article, a quick search on any social media Web site for the term “firefighter” turns up several pages of folks. The vast majority of information posted on these pages simply answers the question, “Who am I?” or “What is my profession?” And just so we’re clear, I have absolutely no problem with that. However, some of these Web sites show firefighters thumping their chests as if to say, “Look at me, I’m super cool because I’m a firefighter.”

When I was the chief, one of my own firefighter’s personal pages pictured her holding her child while wearing dirty bunker gear. And I got “the call” about another firefighter who didn’t have anything on except the lights on a stealth social media page.

I never thought one of my firefighters—from a small Texas town of 6,500—would have done something like that, but it just goes to show you that anyone can slip up with this stuff. After all, social media is still a relatively new arena for most of us and, as such, we need to learn as much as we can about the impact it can have on our careers. With that in mind, be smart when you’re posting anything online.

Scott Cook is the former chief of the Granbury (Texas) Volunteer Fire Department and a fire service instructor. He’s also a member of FireRescue’s editorial board.