Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

This one just blows my mind, both for its initial absurdity and quasi happy ending so I wanted to share. Apparently someone just lost an internship at NASA after getting into a vulgar curse laden Twitter war with Homer Hickman, aka that sweet nerdy kid from October Sky, who is apparently still alive. There's picks of some of the tweets, and just wow. Now to be clear Hickman didn't nix her internship. Rather it seems that NASA itself took offense to the f bomb being dropped on #NASA and Hickman has stated he was originally trying to warn her of this. The prospective intern has apologized and Hickman like a classy chap is working to get her another position.

And this is why social media is a bad place

I hope Twitter dies a horrible death sometime in the very near future.

Maybe in the next decade social media as a whole will die off and the world will be a better place.

Wow, the guy she was swearing at is helping her now? That is classy.

Frankly NASA did the right thing, who wants an employee with so little self control and common sense?

I feel bad for the younger generation now because stupid crap I said when I was younger is not preserved forever on the Internet but I have to assume that if she was qualified for a competitive internship like NASA she should have enough common sense to not post something like she did and then double down on the vulgarity all the while tagging NASA.

I think the first post would have ended up being a non issue until she posted something so bad that USA Today won't even publish a mostly redacted version of it.

 vonjankmon wrote:
Frankly NASA did the right thing, who wants an employee with so little self control and common sense?

I feel bad for the younger generation now because stupid crap I said when I was younger is not preserved forever on the Internet but I have to assume that if she was qualified for a competitive internship like NASA she should have enough common sense to not post something like she did and then double down on the vulgarity all the while tagging NASA.

I think the first post would have ended up being a non issue until she posted something so bad that USA Today won't even publish a mostly redacted version of it.

Couldn't agree more

 Valkyrie wrote:

 vonjankmon wrote:
Frankly NASA did the right thing, who wants an employee with so little self control and common sense?

I feel bad for the younger generation now because stupid crap I said when I was younger is not preserved forever on the Internet but I have to assume that if she was qualified for a competitive internship like NASA she should have enough common sense to not post something like she did and then double down on the vulgarity all the while tagging NASA.

I think the first post would have ended up being a non issue until she posted something so bad that USA Today won't even publish a mostly redacted version of it.

Couldn't agree more

It takes alot to shock me nowadays but that story was pretty amazing. I'm totally in agreement to your take on it.

Social media is a wondeful great filter for sifting out people with poor judgement. Often the original act isn't the worst part, it's that they decided to make a permanent hardcopy, and then blast it to everyone on the planet.

If you don't have the judgement to watch what you say and share on social media, you don't have the judgement to be doing anything more than flipping burgers.

Twitter is especially bad as the platform is basically the equivalent of standing on a soapbox and shouting at the Internet one or two sentences at a time. It's not a functional platform for discussion or conversation, its *really* bad at that, the fundamental nature of its format just doesnt do anything but shouting one liners. It's a garbage platform that adds little of value to the world and lots of drama.

NASA is losing nothing of value here, and I concur with the assessment that Twitter needs to go away.

Why does social media turn some otherwise intelligent people into morons? I will probably never know. I am glad I quit it when I was like 13 already.

 cuda1179 wrote:
Wow, the guy she was swearing at is helping her now? That is classy.

It is amazingly generous of Mr. Hickman to go to those lengths, but I don't know if this person deserved being helped. It sorta feels like rewarding extremely douchey behavior to me. I know we need more women in STEM-related fields but I am sure there are many other bright, young women who are just as deserving of an opportunity like this who won't go tell random people on the internet to "suck their d**k and ba**s".

Hilarious how dumb some people who must legitimately be smart can be.

 vonjankmon wrote:
... but I have to assume that if she was qualified for a competitive internship like NASA she should have enough common sense to not post something like she did and then double down on the vulgarity all the while tagging NASA.

Having the education for an internship at NASA does not guarantee the common sense of a chicken, much less that of a mature and thoughtful adult. And this story is the proof of that.

If you tie your job to your Social Media account, then you may as well assume that every post is being stated verbally, in your uniform with your name badge on display, in front of your boss.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

I mean, to some extent I get the whole "you have to own what you put on social media" thing, but really? "Being vulgar" is that big a deal in America?

The way you were talking about it I thought she went off on some extended racist rant or something, but telling someone who buts in to your moment of celebration with a "watch yer language, young'un!" remark(even if it was well intentioned) to suck it sounds like a 100% normal, everyday thing to do.

It is and I doubt anyone would care except she got caught saying it to Homer Hickum on NASA's official Twitter. That's like getting hired at Microsoft and telling Bill Gates to "feth off." It's just not smart XD

 LordofHats wrote:
It is and I doubt anyone would care except she got caught saying it to Homer Hickum on NASA's official Twitter. That's like getting hired at Microsoft and telling Bill Gates to "feth off." It's just not smart XD

No, but Dutch people are generally quite a bit more easy-going (and tolerant of vulgar language) than Americans (or pretty much anyone for that matter), so I can see Yodhrin being confused since something like this would be unlikely to result in a scandal in the Netherlands, let alone widespread media attention. Although even here you might still get a warning from the boss to watch your language.

Anyone can get drawn into an argument and a fight. If you doubt me take a stint a moderating a generally active forum for a while.

Sane normal sensible smart people are just as likely to get drawn into stupid senseless ego filled arguments as dimmer people. In fact smart people can be some of the worst because they can think of all kinds of self justifications for their outrage and insult and how the only recourse is to have the LAST word (because whoever gets the last word and the last insult wins online right).

In general its because whilst we are all capable of thinking and acting with a wider view to the world ;the internet is still you and your computer screen interacting directly with perhaps a handful of people at once.

That the whole world cna view it never really enters our mind - and we focus in on the action on the event and discussion before us. It's only after that we can blink and step back and realise that suddenly we blurted that to the whole world and our boss.



I'd also say businesses need to learn how to treat FB/Twitter and such as well. I think they need to learn that on some level they cannot expect perfect performance and behaviour from staff at all times without any complaint or issue arising. And that when people have arguments with other people it is normal and natural. Yes there are limits on that kind of behaviour too - esp when they use the official handle/account of the company. But I think just as individual people need to learn better internet self awareness; companies need to learn it too.


Part of this is the generation game and I'd wager as generations shift forward some of these issues will go away on their own; of course others will likely rise to the fore to replace them.

 Yodhrin wrote:
I mean, to some extent I get the whole "you have to own what you put on social media" thing, but really? "Being vulgar" is that big a deal in America?

The way you were talking about it I thought she went off on some extended racist rant or something, but telling someone who buts in to your moment of celebration with a "watch yer language, young'un!" remark(even if it was well intentioned) to suck it sounds like a 100% normal, everyday thing to do.

This, in a nutshell. I mean, who did they have monitoring the NASA twitter account that was so far up his own bum, that when he saw her swear once in jubilation, and again telling someone she didn't know butting in to 'suck it' thought 'Cor, I'd best pass this along the food chain'. In terms of vulgarity, I hear 13 year olds saying worse, more offensive, and more inventive things on the street. There's no real malice or problem.

Honestly, if I'd granted the internship and someone passed this onto my desk insisting I should now cancel it? I'd ask them what the hell was wrong with them.

Apparently NASA has a reputation for being a language Nazi on their social media, so it's probably an organizational thing.

From what I've seen about this on reddit, it was not what she said, but the responses of her friends after Hickam had already posted. which are not being shown.

This is also said by Hickam in his letter about the situation:


As for NASA not wanting tweets tagged with them being full of profanity, I think that makes sense. They'll want the stuff associated with them on social media to be suitable for everyone interested in space, from kids to adults.

Just repeating and agreeing with others' comments on social media acting as a great filter to expose and cull morons. 21st century Darwinism, methinks.

 A Town Called Malus wrote:
From what I've seen about this on reddit, it was not what she said, but the responses of her friends after Hickam had already posted. which are not being shown.

Exactly right. Her friends brigaded the hell out of Hickam. It wasn't just the initial exchange, but the piling on by her moron associates that drew the attention of Nasa and caused the resulting loss of an internship.

Which makes Hickam a saint in my eyes for even engaging with this woman afterward, never mind his efforts to get her an internship elsewhere. She doesn't deserve that sort of generosity in my opinion, but maybe she learned a really good lesson here and grew as a person.

 Iron_Captain wrote:
Why does social media turn some otherwise intelligent people into morons? I will probably never know. I am glad I quit it when I was like 13 already.

Just Google the words "Greater Internet Theory" and you should find the Penny Arcade comic strip that explains it (it has naughty language, though).
Arguably, you haven't really quit social media, since you're posting right here on Dakka.

And thus I advocate Wil's Law

 DarkTraveler777 wrote:

 A Town Called Malus wrote:
From what I've seen about this on reddit, it was not what she said, but the responses of her friends after Hickam had already posted. which are not being shown.

Exactly right. Her friends brigaded the hell out of Hickam. It wasn't just the initial exchange, but the piling on by her moron associates that drew the attention of Nasa and caused the resulting loss of an internship.

Which makes Hickam a saint in my eyes for even engaging with this woman afterward, never mind his efforts to get her an internship elsewhere. She doesn't deserve that sort of generosity in my opinion, but maybe she learned a really good lesson here and grew as a person.

Frankly that makes the whole affair even more grotesque to my eye. Why the hell are NASA holding her responsible for what other people are saying? Sounds like Hickam is less a saint and more that he just has a more reasonable grasp of this affair than the Monocle Popping Brigade in here or the burbling cretin at NASA who made the decision.

 Vulcan wrote:

 vonjankmon wrote:
... but I have to assume that if she was qualified for a competitive internship like NASA she should have enough common sense to not post something like she did and then double down on the vulgarity all the while tagging NASA.

Having the education for an internship at NASA does not guarantee the common sense of a chicken, much less that of a mature and thoughtful adult. And this story is the proof of that.

To be fair, the core goal of NASA is to put people on top of continuous explosions, to send them into space....

Common sense would kind of go against that....

The Auld Grump - and if someone asked me if I want to be the one sitting on top of that continuous explosion? Oh, Hell YES! <= Guy that paints toy soldiers, even in his fifties - common sense not necessary.

The thing is, not knowing who Hickman was, I thought it was doing a Captain America joke at first glance.

But yeah, it looks like the whole thing got way out of hand really easily and more what anyone intended or expected.

I get the feeling that a lot of America would have a stroke if they ever visited Scottish twitter or spent more than 5 minutes in Glasgow.

 Compel wrote:
I get the feeling that a lot of America would have a stroke if they ever visited Scottish twitter or spent more than 5 minutes in Glasgow.

Well, we wouldn't be demanding anyone get arrested for anything they said, so there's that.

 Adeptus Doritos wrote:

 Compel wrote:
I get the feeling that a lot of America would have a stroke if they ever visited Scottish twitter or spent more than 5 minutes in Glasgow.

Well, we wouldn't be demanding anyone get arrested for anything they said, so there's that.

As if getting fired for a mildly offensive twitter post is so much better.

Mario wrote:
As if getting fired for a mildly offensive twitter post is so much better.

Being a criminal and being temporarily unemployed aren't the same thing. And this wasn't even real 'employment', it was internship lost because she told someone to put her genitals in their mouth.

Don't want to get fired from your job? Don't wear your job on your profile when you sh*tpost. It's not that hard. Basic 'adulting', and I have zero sympathy for people who can't manage it.

Don't excuse the stupid. They won't learn if you do.

 Adeptus Doritos wrote:

Mario wrote:
As if getting fired for a mildly offensive twitter post is so much better.

Being a criminal and being temporarily unemployed aren't the same thing. And this wasn't even real 'employment', it was internship lost because she told someone to put her genitals in their mouth.

Don't want to get fired from your job? Don't wear your job on your profile when you sh*tpost. It's not that hard. Basic 'adulting', and I have zero sympathy for people who can't manage it.

Don't excuse the stupid. They won't learn if you do.

But apparently plenty of sympathy for racists and other hatemongers