People, have you lost your minds?
I don’t mind if you tweet about bowl movements or your latest sexual escapades, but why would you disclose information about your health, or your family members’, or a friend’s health on Twitter or any other social networking site?
Lately I’ve noticed a disturbing trend. Many of you are baring it all in cyber space — and I mean everything from cankers to cancer. And that could spell doom if you’re looking for a job or trying to buy insurance folks.
Here’s a sampling from Twitter on what some of you are disclosing (I’ve removed the Twitter names to protect the innocent):
* i was havin stomach pains…but they tracked it bak to a cyst on my ovary.
* I know Mel, it was exactly a year this friday I got diagnosed with cancer so it just shows you how things can turn around.
* Confused By Test Results: After going gluten-free at home with my husband, who was diagnosed with celiac disease.
* Everyone please pray for XXXX, she was just diagnosed today with Type 1 Diabetes! Yes, the one Nick Jonas has.. :’(
It’s a harsh reality, but some employers aren’t big on hiring people with maladies because of the high cost of health care, or a potential perceived hit to productivity.
Many companies are starting to pay their workers to get healthier and some are even cutting insurance premium contributions for those employees who lose weight and minimize their chances of costly diseases. Employers are sick of paying through the nose to cover employees’ health coverage. (Have you noticed the debate going on in this country?)
So, what do you think a hiring manager is going to do when they get your resume and decide to look into who you are?
They’re checking Twitter and the rest, trust me. This from a recent issue of human resource publication Workforce Management magazine:
In the rush to cut recruiting budgets and avoid the avalanche of résumés now generated by job boards, employers are increasingly tapping professional and social networking sites as a sourcing tool. Some employers now rely heavily or even exclusively on Twitter or LinkedIn to fill open positions.
Using networks for recruiting is ripe with risk for future discrimination claims, says Pamela Devata, a partner at Seyfarth Shaw in Chicago.
Recruiters will Google you and suddenly a tweet you wrote comes up saying you have diabetes or some other ailment. They don’t want what they think is an unhealthy liability.
It is indeed illegal not to hire you because you have an ailment, especially those covered under the ADA. But who’s going to know if an HR person dumps your resume in the trash after finding out information about a malady you may have.
They may also think you’re not up to the job.
Even if you overcame a disease folks, some employers may still hold that against you because it could return.
And, if you’re self employed or an entrepreneur trying to buy health coverage on the open market, you better have disclosed all your aches and pains to the insurer if you’ve already told the world about them on Twitter. Folks, you could be denied coverage or have to pay way more for a policy for a preexisting condition. (Remember, health reform hasn’t happened yet, if it ever will.)
If any of you have indeed tweeted, or Facebooked, or what ever about you ailments, I would consider removing all those references, especially if you’re in the job market.
Full disclosure here: I have tweeted about my back problems and in hindsight it was a stupid thing.
Read this blog post quickly because it will self destruct soon so I remain more employable just in case.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:03 am
I’ve noticed the same on Facebook - people having public discussions about symptoms and “oh when I had that…”.
I hadn’t actually thought of the impact it could have from a career point of view - but I do know that I have personal twitter and facebook accounts and I’m very wary of what I put on there. They’re not tied to my work in any way, but still - people underestimate how social media can come back and bite you!
November 5th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Well, Eve, if tweeting about your back problems was “a stupid thing”, then I must be the king of stupid.
I’ve long known that what you post online is public information. There’s no real privacy unless you take extraordinary means to protect it. Ten weeks ago, I started a blog chronicling my journey to get healthy. I disclose what my condition was when I started, and it logs my every-day progress in doing the right things and working to get healthy. It’s been exciting because I’ve lost 20 lbs. and have been able to reduce medications I’m taking for a chronic condition. In the ten weeks since I’ve started it, there have been thousands of page impressions and we’ve gotten messags from people around the world that tell us how we’ve been an inspiration to others (my wife is also posting on the blog since we are taking this journey together). We even know of eight other people, whom we know personally, who have started their journeys toward a healthier lifestyle after reading our blog. When I read your post this morning, I realized that I had been a dimwit regarding my disclosures.
The only thing going for me right now is that we’re not using our primary online identites in association with the blog. We’re using secondary eddresses and have adopted screen names in place of our real identities. Our original secrecy was because our training, a Couch-to-5k running program, has been a secret kept from our kids. They know we’ve been exercising, but they don’t know we run. We planned to out ourselves after we participate in our first 5k race on November 14. Now, you’ve given me reason to pause.
I’m not sure what I will do regarding my identity. Many of my readers are very interested in learning more about us and our journey, but my medical disclosures could make it easy for an employer to pass me by. Then again, I’ve become empassioned about this battle to lose weight, and one of the things that has allowed my story to be inspirational to others has been my honesty. When they see that I got off the couch in the condition I was in and started something many thought I’d never finish, they realize that they can make a change, too.
I could lament my decision to post the information–in the simplest sense, it wasn’t a smart move–but it also could mark a new direction for my life and actually become something that helps me build a new career: I’m already in talks with a local county department about speaking at an upcoming health and wellness fair, and I’ve been looking into facilitating a community education course built around the training plan we used. I’m no aerobic rock star, and I’m not going to delude myself, but I really believe I can use my experiences to help others.
So, will I disclose who I am, or won’t I? That, it seems, is a question I must ponder over the next ten days.
[If you care to check out my blog, you’ll find it at http://oursecretplan.blogspot.com. Eve, you may delete the link if you deem it inappropriate for me to include it here.]