I originally posted the first version of this list years ago. I re-posted an updated version in 2009. Now I’m doing it again. See the previous version for an introduction and explanation of why and how I first put this list together.I’ve updated this version quite a bit, but there is still a lot to do. If anything, there are more people being fired for social media, as the amount of tools and users increases. I actually thought that this number would decrease after a while as people got used to social media. Eh, not so much, apparently. The continued increase indicates to me that people in hiring/firing positions are not comfortable with it, still, and therefore have still not created much in the way of “blogging policy” for their employees.
FIRED
Octavia Nasr (@octavianasr) — 07/10; CNN, New York, NY
Andrew Kurtz (Facebook) —06/10; Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh, PA
Catherine Deveny (@catherinedeveny) —05/10; The Age, Melbourne, Australia
Ashley Johnson (Facebook) —05/10; Brixx Pizza, Charlotte, North Carolina
Mike Bacsik (@mikebacsik) — 04/10; Cumulus Media, Atlanta, GA
Stuart MacLennan (Twitter – closed) — 04/10; Scottish Labor Party, Scotland
Nick Sowden (Twitter – closed) —04/10; Queensland Liberal-National Party, Queensland, Australia
“TBK” (The Beautiful Kind) — 04/10; non-profit, St. Louis, MO
Chelsea Taylor (Facebook) —03/10; Cookies, Leigh, Manchester, England
Meg (2birdsblog) — 02/10; (company unidentified), Washington, D.C.
Unidentified young woman (bl0g) — 01/10; McDonalds, Örebro, Sweden
Jennifer Carter (Twitter) —12/09; University Medical Center, Jackson, MS
Müller Tamás (@muller) — 12/09; Vodafone, Hungary
Timothy DeLaGhetto (@traphik) — 10/09; California Pizza Kitchen,
Jon Barrett (@papabarrett) — 08/09; Barney Greengrass, New York, NY
David Le (@davidle630) — 06/09; Dept. of Employment Services, Washington, D.C.
Vanderlei Luxemburgo (@vluxemburgo) —06/09; Palmeiras professional soccer team, São Paulo, Brazil
Connor Riley (@theconnor) — 03/09; Cisco Systems, California
Dan Leone (Facebook) — 03/09; Philadelphia Eagles, Philadelphia, PA
Michael Cox (Short Turns) — 01/15/09; Coast Mountain Bus Company, Vancouver, BC
Chez Pazienza (Deus Ex Malconent) — 02/12/08; CNN (American Morning), New York, NY
Llewellyn Kriel (Thought Leader) — 11/07; The Sowetan, Johannesburg, South Africa
Lennart Eriksson (Sapere Aude!) — 09/07; Swedish Migration Board, Goteborg, Sweden
Jessica Zenner (Inexcusable Behavior: not extant) — 08/31/07; Nintendo, Seattle, WA
Christine Axsmith (Covert Communications: blog unavailable; originally published on CIA intranet; public blog is Econo-Girl) — 07/17/07; BAE Systems, Washington, DC
Drew Townson (Drewcifer’s Tone Zone) — 02/07; Mercenary Audio, Boston, MA
Charles Williamson (Freelance Genius) — 01/08/07; Potomac Video, Washington, DC
Heather (last name withheld by request) and three others (Goldilochs) — 11/06; Alaska Airlines, Anchorage, AL
Jason Izquierdo (MySpace) — 11/06; Richmond County Sheriff’s Department, Augusta, GA
Tom Reynolds (thomasrDotOrg) — 10/06; Telstra, Melbourne, Australia
Dorunrun (Dorunrun) — 07/06; Canada
Catherine Sanderson (Petite Anglaise) — 07/06; Dixon Wilson, Paris, France
“A Microbiology Grad Student” (The (Former) Life of a Microbiology Grad Student) — 06/06; University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
Jessa Jeffries (I had a comples named after me) — 05/06; The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA
“LWKnitter” (MySpace) — 05/06; KGET TV, Bakersfield, CA
Paul Andrew Juliano (Hyper Cubicle) — 04/06; Bentley College, Waltham, MA
Stephanie (Stefr.net) — 02/06; Atlanta, GA
Richard Eid (7 Years with Corporate America) — Johnson Controls; 12/05; Cleveland, OH
“Silver Tree” (Silver Blog) — an airline (United?); 12/05; ?
Kelly Kreth (Charmingly Neurotic) — Dwelling Quest; 9/05; New York, NY
Rachael (name withheld by request) (site withheld by request) — FCF Schmidt Public Relations; 9/05; Plymouth Meeting, PA
27 employees (MySpace) — Automobile Club of Southern Californai; 8/05; San Diego, CA
Nadine Haobsh (Jolie in NYC) — Ladies Home Journal; 7/05; New York, NY
Lance Salyers (Ragged Edges) — Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office, 6/05; Dayton, OH
8ZERO8 (8ZERO8) – 5/05; Texas (?)
Mark Jen (Plaxoed!) — Google, 1/05; Mt. View, CA
Karsh (BlackGayBlogger) – AutoTrader.com, 1/05; Atlanta, GA
Rob Cotter (Sousalizard/apparently defunct) – Blockbuster Video, 1/05; Seattle, WA
Joe Gordon (Woolamaloo Gazette) – Waterstone’s Books, 1/05; Edinburgh, Scotland
Jeremy C. Wright (Ensight) — Health Sciences Center, 1/05; Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Angelo Villagomez (If I Could Change One Thing) — Kres Chophouse, 12/04; Orlando, FL
Daniel Finney (Rage, Anguish and Bad Craziness in St. Louis/apparently defunct) — St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 12/04; St. Louis, MO
“Romiustexis” (Self Help Center) — Maricopa County Superior Court of Arizona Self Help Center and Library, 11/04; Tempe, Arizona
Jason Graham (Jgram World V2.0) – accounts practice firm, 10/04 – Essex, England
Ellen Simonetti (Diary of a Flight Attendant) — Delta Airlines, 9/04; Austin, TX
Peter Whitney (Gravity Spike) — Wells Fargo-owned brokerage Ragen MacKenzie, 8/04; Pacific Northwest
Joyce Park (Troutgirl) — Friendster, 8/04
[name and blog withheld by request] — Nunavut Tourism, 7/04; Nunavut/Vancouver, BC, Canada
Jessica Cutler (Washingtonienne/archive) — staffer for Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), 5/04; Washington, DC
Amy Norah Burch — (What is Sparky?) Committee on Degrees in Social Studies at Harvard University, 5/04
Rachel Mosteller (The Sarcastic Journalist) — Durham Herald-Sun, 4/04; Durham, NC / Houston, TX
Rob Smith (Gut Rumbles) — Kerr-McGee, 11/03 ; Savannah GA
Michael Hanscom (Eclecticism) — Microsoft, 10/03; Redmond, WA
Gregg Easterbrook (Easterblogg/defunct) — ESPN, 10/03; Washington, DC
Matthew Brown (apparently defunct) — Starbucks, 9/03; Toronto, ON, Canada
Justin Winokur (Jwinokur) — Apple Computer, 9/03; San Jose, CA
Veronica (Moxie Pop/apparently defunct) — 6/03
Iain Murray (The Edge of England’s Sword) — Statistical Assessment Service (DC nonprofit), 1/03; Washington, DC
Steve Olafson (Brazosport News) — Houston Chronicle, 08/02; Houston, TX
Heather Armstrong (Dooce) — 2/02; Salt Lake City, Utah
Ian Lind (ILind) — Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 3/01; Honolulu, HI
DISCIPLINED
Larry Johnson (@toonicon) — 10/08; Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City, MO (suspended)
Antonio Cromarti (@crimetime31) — 08/09; San Diego Chargers, San Diego, CA (fined $2,500.00)
Philip Hambrick & Colby Harrell (MySpace) — 11/16/08; Richmond County Sheriff’s Department, Augusta, GA (suspended for 10 and two days respectively)
Two Alaska Airline employees (MySpace) — Alaska Airlines, Achnorage Alaska (unionized employees disciplined)
Spc. Leonard A. Clark (Leonard Clark, National Guardsman) — 860th Military Police Company, Arizona National Guard, 7/05; Baghdad, Iraq (busted down to private, fined, according to his blog, he is under a “gag order”)
Major Michael Cohen (67cshdocs) — 67th Army Combat Support Hospital, Forward Operating Base Marez, 1/05; Mosul, Iraq (instructed to remove and cease updating his blog)
Mark Cuban (Blog Maverick) — Dallas Mavericks, 11/04; Dallas, TX (fined for allegedly disparaging remarks on his blog)
Denis Horgan (denishorgan.com) — Hartford Courant, 3/03; Hartford, CT (ordered to stop blog or be fired)
ELIMINATED FROM CONSIDERATION FOR EMPLOYMENT
GayBlackBlogger (Karsh) — 12/04; Atlanta, GA
Curt Hopkins (Morpheme Tales) — Minnesota Public Radio, 12/04; Eugene, OR/St. Paul, MN
***
Special thanks to those who have helped add to and clarify this list.
More information is available at The Papal Bull. PB’s list goes into some detail on the circumstances surrounding the firings of especially the early subjects.
Curt Hopkins | Writer 