Until last week, I worked at a food truck downtown. We sold grilled cheese and milkshakes. One of the unusual things about this particular food service job was that the owner used customer comments and pictures on social media—especially Twitter and Instagram—to monitor his workers. Grilled cheese: gamified.
And it was explicitly framed as a game for workers. Members of whichever 'crew' got the most positive feedback on social media each month would win a $25 iTunes gift card.
But compliments are hard to track online. Even if a customer thinks she is paying a compliment online, she might not be. Like if you enjoyed your sandwich enough to Instagram it, but the color of the grilled bread wasn't exactly right, we’d hear about it.
Brendan O'Connor then details how he got fired for using Twitter to berate a customer that left no tip.
Guess Millennial entitlement is running up against real-world reality faster than they expected. No, the owner probably does not have your back if you tip-shame people on the Internet. Internet media usage, like stereotypes, are only acceptable when it's positive.
