Social Media and Doxxing - Your Thoughts???

Nurses General Nursing

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So, I first had to look up "doxxing" which is to publicly identify or publish private information about (someone) especially as a form of punishment or revenge.

This recently came up when I read about Joshua Strickland, an RN in Louisianna who posted a selfie at the end of his first day on a new job in which he BLURRED out parts of his name tag. He vaguely mentioned a comment from a patient he had cared for that day without revealing any identifying information. He posted it to a FB group and it went viral as so many nurses could identify with his sentiment.

However, out of the thousands of supportive comments he received there was someone who felt a need to report it. So, they utilized technology to "unblur" his name tag and then reported it to his hospital.

He was fired and is currently unemployed.

So....what are your thoughts on this?

Is it okay to post selfies regarding work situations?

How about the person who reported it?

Do you know your facility policy?

Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

To further clarify Josh was outside his unit, off the clock. Who went too far? Josh, the nurse or person who felt the need to report him?

yes it is important to be mindful of policy. What does it say?

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.

The nurse who reported the post did the act with a malicious intent in my opinion. There was nothing to be gained there other than an attempt to get someone else in trouble and it worked...it's a game for some people. It's obvious that it's not an altruistic act on their part to protect a patient's confidentiality. I do feel that the employer jumped the gun too harshly and did not need to fire Josh but I don't have the details of that hospital's policy.

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.

There are administrators, physicians, nursing leaders, and staff nurses who identify their employers and are active on twitter and other social media sites. They do not post statements that negatively affect the image of their affiliations (their specialty, their team, their workplace, their patients). In fact, their organizations even retweet their posts. You can use social media to your advantage, just be mindful of the rules of common sense.

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Specializes in ICU.
29 minutes ago, traumaRUs said:

To further clarify Josh was outside his unit, off the clock. Who went too far? Josh, the nurse or person who felt the need to report him?

yes it is important to be mindful of policy. What does it say?

The nurse who reported him went too far. People like this are why I don't list where I work, where I live, or alma maters on my profile. Of course, I also don't photograph myself at work either.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.
23 minutes ago, juan de la cruz said:

There are administrators, physicians, nursing leaders, and staff nurses who identify their employers and are active on twitter and other social media sites. They do not post statements that negatively affect the image of their affiliations (their specialty, their team, their workplace, their patients). In fact, their organizations even retweet their posts. You can use social media to your advantage, just be mindful of the rules of common sense.

Excellent points

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Specializes in PICU.
1 hour ago, traumaRUs said:

Great discussion. What about nurses who “tattle” about social media posts? The person, supposedly a nurse on this closed FB group went to considerable effort to “unblur” and out Josh’s post. Did THEY go too far? Who appointed them the guardian of the internet?

^^^^This exactly. That is going too far. It is different if you upload a youtube video to a public viewing, but a private group, and someone took considerable effort to unblur a name tag????!!!! That is way to far, and someone really wanted to do him in.

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ZDogg discussed this. The issue didn’t arise from an “unblurred” ID badge. A copy of what appears to be the photo in question is available. And while his ID badge is not visible, the facility's logo was. And although blurry, someone was able to identify the facility. There is also an interview with Jessica Sites on her YouTube channel
and what appears to be the same picture linked above can be seen at about 35 minutes.

Having said this, it was still a d****e bag move to report him.

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15 minutes ago, chare said:

ZDogg discussed this. The issue didn’t arise from an “unblurred” ID badge. A copy of what appears to be the photo in question is available. And while his ID badge is not visible, the facility's logo was. And although blurry, someone was able to identify the facility. There is also an interview with Jessica Sites on her YouTube channel
and what appears to be the same picture linked above can be seen at about 35 minutes.

Having said this, it was still a d****e bag move to report him.

I saw the post and that discussion. Dumb dumb dumb move on his part, posting that comment in front of his hospital logo. I am an ol lady who just doesn't get the youngling's fascination with posting selfies at work. Or selfies anywhere for that matter but I digress. Do I think he should have been fired? No, but am not surprised that the facility terminated him, especially on his first day.

And I hope self-righteous harpy who went above and beyond the call of douchbaggery to get that young man fired gets put at the head of the line karmic justice.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.
1 hour ago, chare said:

ZDogg discussed this. The issue didn’t arise from an “unblurred” ID badge. A copy of what appears to be the photo in question is available. And while his ID badge is not visible, the facility's logo was. And although blurry, someone was able to identify the facility. There is also an interview with Jessica Sites on her YouTube channel
and what appears to be the same picture linked above can be seen at about 35 minutes.

Having said this, it was still a d****e bag move to report him.

Exactly. I watched both of the above referenced interviews and josh states several times he doesn’t know who would have done this.

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People who take "selfies" at work annoy the crap out of me ...more so if they're paired with some sanctimonious message.
I don't have the heart to report anyone, but I can see how someone a fraction of a millimeter crankier than I am might. I have messaged co-workers privately to warn them when they're teetering on the edge of trouble ...not as a threat, but out of genuine concern.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.
46 minutes ago, Sour Lemon said:

People who take "selfies" at work annoy the crap out of me ...more so if they're paired with some sanctimonious message.
I don't have the heart to report anyone, but I can see how someone a fraction of a millimeter crankier than I am might. I have messaged co-workers privately to warn them when they're teetering on the edge of trouble ...not as a threat, but out of genuine concern.

Agree!

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Pediatric Float, PICU, NICU.

I’m actually a part of the Facebook group where he originally posted the picture that eventually someone reported. For the record, he didn’t blur anything out in the original post and the background had a sign which showed the name of the facility he worked at.

That being said, it was still pretty crappy for someone to go out of their way and report it. Especially since he didn’t say anything “negative” or identifying about the patient.

BUT this is just another reason why I think social media is bad, and why I would never post anything about work if I did have social media.

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