Let’s be honest, your future employer should be allowed to view your Facebook or MySpace page. These are public domains after all, so if you’re embarrassed or ashamed of something, it shouldn’t be there in the first place. Companies have a right to know about the people they are going to invest in, so it seems to me like a necessary part of due diligence.
I don’t even quite understand why people think Facebook and MySpace are private. Especially since Facebook is now open to any user. There are very few things about the internet that can be deemed “private,” I mean it’s not called the World Wide Web for nothing. The goal of the internet is to make information more accessible, and certain sites like Facebook and
MySpace have increased that accessibility exponentially. I don’t think people realize how small Facebook is, either. In order to access someone’s profile (by the default settings) you only have to belong to their geographical network. How hard is it to change your hometown to access someone’s network and therefore someone’s information? The answer is “not very.” Unfortunately for young kids today, their parents are going to be just as tech-savvy as they are, so trying to block parents is a problem with a likely easy solution.
I think the biggest complaint people have against this is that their private life is not their employers’ business. Well we’ve already established that the internet is public domain, not private. But companies also have a right to know what they are investing in. Ok, so maybe this doesn’t apply if you work the graveyard shift at Denny’s. In that case, Denny’s has a right to check your police record. But if a company is going to invest $40, $60, $80, or $100G’s, it has a right to find out about the investment. Would a company buy or lease a piece of equipment without doing any research? And they don’t want to just see the manufacturer’s description, they want to read the user reviews and hear from other users how the equipment performed. You might say, “That’s what references are for.” How often have you listed a reference that would talk negatively about you? Don’t you think those are a little biased? You want to know what people are all about? Look at their Facebook and MySpace pages.
I think this holds true especially for companies that take pride in their employees. Some companies could care less, obviously. But in a company where employees represent the brand, those employees should be screened and held to a higher standard. If I’m that employer, I want to know if my employees have marijuana leaves plastered all over their MySpace page. I want to know if my employees still go out and get trashed several times per week. I want to know if my employees are going to put themselves in a position that not only reflects poorly for my company but affects productivity. I pay you $80G’s a year? Act like it. Make me think I made a good decision. Hiring decisions shouldn’t be based on Facebook pages, but the pages should be available as a reference should employers decide to use them.
To me, this is fairly black and white. If you want to be an ass, be an ass. Just be aware that everyone is watching.
I don’t even quite understand why people think Facebook and MySpace are private. Especially since Facebook is now open to any user. There are very few things about the internet that can be deemed “private,” I mean it’s not called the World Wide Web for nothing. The goal of the internet is to make information more accessible, and certain sites like Facebook and
MySpace have increased that accessibility exponentially. I don’t think people realize how small Facebook is, either. In order to access someone’s profile (by the default settings) you only have to belong to their geographical network. How hard is it to change your hometown to access someone’s network and therefore someone’s information? The answer is “not very.” Unfortunately for young kids today, their parents are going to be just as tech-savvy as they are, so trying to block parents is a problem with a likely easy solution.I think the biggest complaint people have against this is that their private life is not their employers’ business. Well we’ve already established that the internet is public domain, not private. But companies also have a right to know what they are investing in. Ok, so maybe this doesn’t apply if you work the graveyard shift at Denny’s. In that case, Denny’s has a right to check your police record. But if a company is going to invest $40, $60, $80, or $100G’s, it has a right to find out about the investment. Would a company buy or lease a piece of equipment without doing any research? And they don’t want to just see the manufacturer’s description, they want to read the user reviews and hear from other users how the equipment performed. You might say, “That’s what references are for.” How often have you listed a reference that would talk negatively about you? Don’t you think those are a little biased? You want to know what people are all about? Look at their Facebook and MySpace pages.
I think this holds true especially for companies that take pride in their employees. Some companies could care less, obviously. But in a company where employees represent the brand, those employees should be screened and held to a higher standard. If I’m that employer, I want to know if my employees have marijuana leaves plastered all over their MySpace page. I want to know if my employees still go out and get trashed several times per week. I want to know if my employees are going to put themselves in a position that not only reflects poorly for my company but affects productivity. I pay you $80G’s a year? Act like it. Make me think I made a good decision. Hiring decisions shouldn’t be based on Facebook pages, but the pages should be available as a reference should employers decide to use them.
To me, this is fairly black and white. If you want to be an ass, be an ass. Just be aware that everyone is watching.
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