I recently read an article about "How Social Media Can Hurt Your Job" by Rachel Zupeck and it gave me pause. Why? Because I have had people ask me who can read their tweets.

If you have your tweets on a public timeline, then everyone can read your tweets. Companies have taken proactive measures to "listen" to their brand being discussed on social media platforms. It's really quite easy for them to know if you are talking about them or not. Tweetbeep, Google Alerts, Radian6, Company Buzz (LinkedIn application), etc. makes it very easy for them to "hear" when their name has been mentioned on a social media platform.

So, before you decide to give negative press about a company or its' people, remember that it's quite possible that they are listening with one of these tools and will discover it. Remember, that once you click "submit," the tweet has been seen. Sure, there is a trash can icon where you can delete a tweet, but who's already seen it? Worse yet--who's already retweeted you? Tweets, pictures, videos, etc. can go viral before you blink an eye, so be very careful.

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