Fake Stephen Conroy: Telstra have fired me
Despite last week’s comments from Telstra that Leslie Nassar – the man behind the fake Stephen Conroy Twitter account – was not going to lose his job, it appears that he has lost his job.
Responding to speculation that his job was on the line, an hour ago Nassar posted on the Stephen Conroy account:
“Just landed in Sydney. If I have been fired, nobody has told me about it.”
But half an hour ago he posted:
“Okay, I’ve been fired for contravening Telstra’s AWA that mandates that you don’t criticise Telstra — ever — even in jest”
According to Nassar, a satirical posting on his website Department of Internets on what he’d do if he was the CEO of Telstra proved to be the final straw.
In it, his manifesto included ditching Big Pond (“It’s just like iTunes; a slower, uglier, emptier, and aggravatingly buggier version of iTunes”) and replacing the company’s concept stores with actual Apple stores.
Meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that Telstra says Nassar has not been fired, but is subject to a “disciplinary process”.
As Mumbrella revealed yesterday, Nassar is due to speak at the first meeting of Social Media Club Sydney next month.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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Was just a matter of time. Telstra’s too much of an old fossil to get Nassar.
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http://www.nowonlyiamallowedto.....loyees.com
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I think Stephen Conroy should give him a job to explain social media, freedom of speech and how Telstra is holding back digtial innovation in Australia.
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For the guys commenting above, do you seriously think it is cool to bag your company and expect to get away with it? As much as I understand all the twitter love towards Leslie, he brought all of this onto himself for not knowing when to shut up, simple as that.
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Rogerio, Leslie was responsible for some of the most inciteful satire seen in Australia in the last 12 months. He didn’t do it as a Telstra employee, nor did it affect his work as a Telstra employee.
If companies can’t see the fact that an increasing public private life will lead to situations like this, and this is not some isolated case, they have a lot to learn.
Telstra’s reponse should have been to ignore it, as it didn’t affect them, or to, with Leslie’s agreement, leverage it to demonstrate the power of social media and the publics opinion towards Conroy and the filter.
If it was revealed Sol Trujillo like to get dressed up in a squirrel costume and smear himself with mayonaise for sexual gratification, and that he communicated with an online community who shared these interests, as long as he didn’t do it in the office, who gives a toss.
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Warlach, that’s absolutely ridiculous re Sol Trujillo!
(It was butter, not mayonnaise.)
Oh bugger, I can sense my phone’s about to be disconnected.
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Rogerio is right. There’s a big difference between his slag on Bigpond and his FSC comments. I like sarcasm as much as the next person (probably more) but if anyone within my business publicly slagged the company there would be consequences.
With that said, I’m looking forward to hearing more of Leslie’s story.
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@ Rogerio de Paula Assis
If you have an problem with employees on Facebook, your approach shouldn’t be to ban Facebook. Or to fire employees. Doesn’t really show a good understanding of what social media is about does it?
@ Gordon Whitehead
Thumbs up to that comment.
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@Zac
Not disagreeing with anything that’s been said on the social media side (I’m actually in two minds about Telstra’s position) but Leslie decided to carry on after that, and there will always be consequences when you mess with the big dogs. To put it in perspective, would you tell one of Photon’s key execs to fuck off on a public forum and expect to get away with it? In the corporate world a pinch of political correctness goes a long way…
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All we need to know now is that Leslie does not exist but is a viral concept invented by Telstra’s HR dept and was fired for losing his jacket in a cafe. The good news is that he has a new job in Queensland …
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Telstra could have turned this into a real positive, but their response has been so Telstra.
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@EB
Are you the fake Eb?
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