What is it that people of power and influence do not get about publicly accessed social networking sites?

Eirian Walsh-Atkins, head of constitutional policy at the Cabinet Office and charged with sorting policy regarding lobbying, stood down on Friday after tweeting [i'I wish unlock Democracy would die. I am prepared to help it along.'[/i

By "stood down", all that means is she ain't got the sack, she's been moved sideways for a while, until the furore calms down. When [url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/lobbying-official-turned-down-reform-meetings-6296562.htmlThe Independent[/url phoned her for clarification, she responded with "I don't like them," and hung up.

Tweeting by civil servants may not be a sackable offence but being stupid as she has been should surely be an incentive for the civil service to offer her the opportunity to spend more time on her amateur dramatics.

The only reason I post on here during the day is because my employer doesn't know the user name



I don't Facebook or Tweet or even update my blog during working hours because they all know who I am on those sites, indeed most of our staff are in the company workgroup, you'd need to be crazy to be sat at your desk tweeting during working hours and expect the MD not to be able trace you.

I've had to go to the extent of having two FB accounts so I can post freely about those things that perhaps I shouldn't. We've all recieved a heads up about FB behaviour and that we could get sacked quite easily if we got it wrong.

The layers immediately above me are considerably more cynical than I am. This helps enormously.

I agree with cod'ead here, so many people really cause problems for themselves with Twitter.

An issue I have seen with the youngish generation of fairly recent graduates, is that those that have landed reasonably good jobs, seem very keen to advertise this on their Twitter 'bio'.

Obviously with the civil service, it is an issue if you then start tweeting political views etc, but also whatever employer you work for once you have identified yourself with that employer, if you want to use Twitter to whinge about your life, work or launch a load of expletives like people often do on Twitter, it just paints your employer in a bad light.

Where I volunteer Twitter use is encouraged because it publicises the organisation. However I have been removed from an office before because the people there found my YouTube work offensive.

I think you’ve just got to be careful where you put your thoughts out. I’ve privatised most of my YouTube videos so I don’t give anyone an excuse to get rid of me..

Was that the one of you on your trampoline in your front garden when you trackie bottoms fell down ?

It was a song about a certain user on here (Gav's Song) and a song about playing Bingo on an elevator.

[url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2090862/McDstories-McDonalds-Twitter-promotion-backfires-users-share-fast-food-horror-stories.htmlMcDonald's epic FAIL[/url

This was a delight - and I personally enjoyed tweeting about it.

I don't use Twitter or Facebook and I probably never will. I see no reason to tweet my every waking action or be the first to get a comment read out by Fern Cotton after she plays a new track by Jessie J on radio 1 (the speed that these come in must mean that super keen teens are writing them before the track has even started). I'm not a technophobe and I keep up with stuff, but I do like being private.

I limit myself to naming my persona after a former Leeds players facial hair, having a picture of A fictional newsreader as my "avatar" and having arguments with people who have nothing in common other than they all have silly names and somewhere support a rugby league team.

Makes twitter seem sensible

i only have a cheap phone, not one of those new fangled machines so i cant twitter even if i wanted to.
i dont do facebook either.
my life is no poorer for not doing them.

You don't feel that your signature on here kinda gives the game away?

Oh bugger.

Don't think they aren't reading your tweets either - there is incontrovertible evidence that they are.

Take the case of Leigh Van Bryan, who, looking forward to his U.S. holiday with his mate, tweeted

He and his friend Emily Bunting were apprehended on arrival at Los Angeles International Airport before being sent home.
[urlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16810312[/url

Spammers can do it, so I have no doubt governments can. Had a tweet from a Jesus spammer as I'd put "Jesus wept" in one tweet. I put "Macbook" in another and had spammers offering me Macbooks. Not quite sure where the porn ones come from though

You do have the option to protect your tweets so only people approved by you can read them. I have never identified my employer, nor do I tweet about work. Although I don't specifically hide my identity either.

It amazes me how many people do bitch about work though.

The reason I had to join twitter was to contact Three with a dispute about my contract. Yep, a mobile phone provider, via the Internet.