In a world where we share and like almost anything on a whim, we forget that once we “put it out there” it may, like some strange new mutation, suddenly have a heartbeat, and then a whole life of its own which is out of our control like an unruly teenager.
@Cella_ was probably ill advised to post this tweet just a day before she started a new job at Jet Pizza “Ew I start this f*ck *ss job tomorrow” with a row of thumbs down….. Let’s think for a moment why she might have tweeted this is the first place. Let’s face it, working at a pizza joint is not a particularly glamorous job. I get that. Maybe she was putting the job down so as not to be thought as someone who might apsire to working on a pizza joint. Who knows. In any event, I’m sure she did not expect the reaction from the Jet Pizza manager.
In his reply @robertwaple tweeted “And… no you don’t start that FA job today! I just fired you! Good luck with your no money, no job life!”
The Twittersphere has gone crazy. Initially the comments were in two camps. Those who supported Cellla for losing her job and those who supported Robert Waple for firing her.
But things are shifting as I write.
Firstly, lets get some perspective. @Cellla_ has tweeted 65,400 times! She must be tweeting in her sleep. She follows 543 people and now has almost 3,000 followers. @robertwaple has had a twitter account since 2009 and the tweet he sent to @Cellla was his third. Ever. Today his account shows 0 tweets – he has deleted the tweet from his account. Good luck with that, Robert… it’s not yours anymore. He follows 3 people, but now has over 1,000 followers.
I’m not surprised Robert is trying to downplay the attention. He simply has no idea what to do with it. He is being criticised for firing Cellla on twitter, He is being told to call her and give her the job back. He’s being called every name under the sun. Moreover, he was spiteful. The comments about the no money, no job life were uncalled for. Understandable in the heat of the moment, but still uncalled for. And somehow, for many, Cellla is becoming a kind of anti-hero. The innocent party.
Cellla, on the other hand seems to be loving it. She is retweeting every supporting tweet she receives. Her tweet count is rocketing. Messages of support are pouring in from all over the world. People think it’s hilarious. They are, apparently, rolling on their floors laughing their *sses off….
…and they are all telling her that she is going to get a much better job than the one at the pizzeria.
But, so far, at least, it doesn’t look as if there is an offer on the table.
Why is that? Well, it’s because it is the Roberts of the world that give the Celllas jobs. And more and more they will be looking at things like twitter accounts and facebook pages for background information on prospective employees. I wonder how will Cellla’s 15 minutes of twitter fame help her future employment prospects. Any future employer might be put off, not only by the tone of the tweet and how there is a good chance that she might tweet again about her next job but also by the fact that anyone who can rack up 65,400 tweets must be on their phone all the time!
And what of Robert? He has brought a good deal of – mostly unwanted – publicity to Jet Pizza. His job is also likely to be at risk. For most pizza outlets, the younger market are significant. Celllas supporters. It’s bad for business.
With just a few moments of thought I am sure that both sides would have behaved slightly differently. Cellla would most likely not have sent the offending tweet had she considered for a moment that he boss was going to see it (which, incidentally, raises the question of who drew his attention to it). And had he been just a little more twitter savvy, Robert would never have replied like this. Instead, greeting her on her first day, copy of her tweet on his phone in hand, and sending her directly back through the door would have been enough.
Instead they have, between them, opened the Pandora’s Box that is social media and now it cannot be closed. This is going to be an interesting spectacle.
