NO SUCH THING AS PRIVACY ONLINE

As a student in a communications program, I use various social media tools, whether it be Facebook, Twitter, or blogging for that matter. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that there's no such thing as privacy online. The very notion that something you put on Facebook is private is, quite frankly, laughable.

This is why I found this story very amusing...

According to an article I read on CTV's website, a junior Conservative staffer named Tony Phillips used his Facebook page to blast Stephen Harper's media strategy. Harper's team has placed restrictions on the number of questions the media can ask him while campaigning.

Phillips works as a communications and legislative assistant to British Columbia MP Dona Cadman. He's clearly in a position where he should keep his views to himself; however, he decided to write "when Sun Media starts to attack our AMAZING government, you know stupidity has prevailed amongst communications people."

'Stupidity' it seems, has made its way to Cadman's communications people...

MP Dona Cadman

Now, I don't necessarily disagree with his statement. Harper should be more open to questions from the media. However, Phillips is in a position in which he never should have made those comments in the first place. As a staffer for a Conservative Party MP, those kinds of statements should have been kept to himself.

The funny thing is that I genuinely believe he thought those comments would only be seen by his friends. This becomes quite clear given what he told the Canadian Press.

The Canadian Press contacted him for an interview regarding the statements he wrote online. Phillips stated "I can't comment on that because that's a personal Facebook page and being in the political position I'm in, that would not be the best career move for me." He added, "I did (share my opinion) with my 800 (Facebook) friends, of which you are not one of them."

The moral of this story you ask? Don't write compromising statements on Facebook about your employers. Privacy settings are a joke, and anything you write will ultimately come back to bite you in the ass -  as I'm sure Tony Phillips has learned.