App warns if your tweet can get you fired

Ever wish you could quickly take back a tweet that could have gotten you fired, or in hot water with your boss? Now, there's an app even for that.

 

Meet FireMe!, which seeks to promote responsible tweeting by alerting a user when his or her posts on Twitter threaten to go too far.

 

"Our goal is to raise awareness about the danger of public online data. Most people are not aware that, on the internet, once said, you can never take it back," it said on its About page.

 

It lets a Twitter user enter his or her handle, then analyzes his or her tweets to see which have content that can be hazardous to their job security.

 

An article on NewScientist.com said the tool by Ricardo Kawase and colleagues at the University of Hanover in Germany uses an algorithm to analyze the tweets.

 

"The user then received an automated alert tweet from FireMe! which rebuked them with the message: 'Can you imagine if your boss gets to know that you said: 'I hate my job so much'. You said that on Twitter and the whole world can see it!'" the article noted.

 

NewScientist.com said each alert contained a link that can give a FireMeter! score, or the Twitter user's chance of being fired because of a particular tweet.

 

Each user is given options on how to remedy the tweet, including deleting the potentially compromising tweet.

 

"It was calculated just for fun but was based on how often they had mentioned their job negatively in the past 100 tweets and how often they swore," NewScientist said.

 

Analysis

 

Also, NewScientist.com said an analysis showed people who tweeted negatively about their job are more likely to tweet more than regular users.

 

They also have fewer followers than those who tweet positive things about their job.

 

Beneficiaries

 

NewScientist.com said young or inexperienced users are likely to benefit from the privacy alerts and warnings like FireMe!

 

"Potential dangers of personal, negatively loaded tweets remain abstract for most users, until the damage has been done," the team said. — TJD, GMA News