Is there such as thing as being fired for Twittering?

It's well known that bloggers can be fired for writing the wrong things about their jobs. Is this going to be a phenomenon for Twitter users as well?

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

If you've been around the world of blogging for a while, you probably know what being "Dooced" means.

If not, it means being fired for blogging, and the term comes from the real-life firing of Heather Armstrong, otherwise known as the mega-popular blogger, Dooce.

Well, today I was thinking about Twittering something and I began to wonder if maybe doing so might get me in trouble at work. And that got me to thinking about whether there'd been any cases yet of someone getting Dooced for Twittering. Call it being "Twooced."

A little bit of quick research revealed just one such situation: An aide to John McCain was suspended--not fired--for Twittering a link to a video linking Barack Obama to his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Now, there's no doubt that in the mind of the American employer, Twitter probably has only barely begun to appear on radar. You know, it's just this little Web 2.0 toy that geeks use to communicate with their friends, right?

Then again, blogging itself surely was in the same realm just a few years ago, and now it's well known that many people have lost their jobs for broadcasting to the world their gripes about work or unsavory bits about their personal lives.

Yet, in a lot of ways, Twittering something could very well have a much bigger--and more immediate--effect than blogging. After all, these days, the right Twitter post can start a huge and very loud conversation spanning dozens or hundreds of people. On the computer screens of the right hundred people, an angry post about work could easily end up in a very loud and very unstoppable echo chamber. Heck, if Robert Scoble alone hears about it, the world will too.

And so the question is, are people being careful about what they Twitter? Have they learned the lesson of blogging? Or is it going to be a hard lesson for some people?

So, I appeal to you, dear readers: Have you heard of other cases of people being Twooced? And, what would be a better word--I hate "Twooced"--than that?

If you've heard of such a case, please post to comments or let me know by e-mail (daniel dot terdiman at cnet dot com). Or Twitter, or course.

[MadLyb]

Awww come one...

...when will you people get a clue?

Talking about your employer in public is a bad thing. This was true before the Interweb, and is even more true in today's hyper-visible society.

Twittering? That's even worse, because if you are twittering at work, then you aren't working. Since it obvious that you can't distinguish between good and bad, not working at work is a bad thing.

Sheesh!

[Daniel Terdiman]

Not at all

The whole point is that people have been fired for blogging when they *weren't* at work. And much Twittering goes on when people are at home, or at least are away from work.

Not only that, the point is also that employers have fired people for blogging things not at all related to work, like personal details.

And one problem is that a lot of young people just entering the work force have really never known an environment where it's not totally natural to blog/IM/text/Twitter everything about themselves and their lives. The filter hasn't set in yet as it has with people who have been in the work force for a number of years.

[underbrink]

Dude, you've been "twit-canned"!

Definitely not wise to Twitter while you work. Unless of course that's what you're being paid to do.

[Daniel Terdiman]

Well, I'm lucky that way...

Twittering is one way to, or trying to, build an audience. So, it's encouraged.

At least I think it is.

*Gulp*

[MikeG8r]

Is it a reason or an excuse?

Everytime I hear about someone being fired for something petty like blogging, I always ask, was it the reason they were fired, or was it an excuse to fire them?