It all started with what could have been viewed as a harmless tweet from a Microsoft employee. Two weeks later that employee, Joe Marini, is now unemployed. Marini sent out a series of tweets talking about his experience with the still unannounced Nokia Windows Phone 7 device. While Marini was not fired, it is believed that he resigned before being let go for improper use of social media, and disclosing confidential information.
The first tweet Marini sent out was actually very flattering, “I just got a chance to try out one of the slickest looking #Nokia phones I have ever seen. Soon, you will too! #wp7.” Our bet is that Marini did not get in trouble for that tweet, but the following two tweets might have caused an issue.
When asked to rate the phone on a scale of 1-10 Marini replied, “Overall I would say an 8. Solid feel, good camera, responsive UI, and nice little touches on the body construction.” A score of eight out of ten isn’t bad, but when he was asked why the score wasn’t higher and if the camera was as good as rumored he replied, “Yeah, the camera was good, but I didn’t have optimal lighting. I’d like a larger screen too.”
Besides implying that the unnamed Nokia WP7 phone had a smaller screen than he hoped Marini really did not say anything negative about the phone. The issue most likely stems from the fact that he was talking about a phone that officially doesn’t exist yet. We have seen a WP7 prototype leaked in a Nokia video, but there is still nothing official yet. The only information we have at this point is that Nokia is making a WP7 phone, and it will most likely be named the W7 or W8.
Marini isn’t the first person to lose their job due to posting something on Twitter that should have never been posted. So let this be a lesson for the rest of us, when in doubt, don’t tweet it.
