Facebook fear

I’ve been tossing around the idea of changing my name on Facebook. Like many people, I enjoy facebook. It has enabled me to keep in touch with old friends and has become another way of communicating. But there’s a growing debate not only about the safety of Facebook, but about its use when hiring employees.

As I have learned in some of my classes and discussions with guest speakers, an alarming amount of businesses and organizations have begun using Facebook as a tool for judging employees. What would you say if a company asked to view your Facebook profile? My automatic response would be ‘no’ – that’s personal, that’s private, but in another sense, what have we got to hide?

Exposing yourself on Facebook, some might say, is acceptable as long as your selected friends – and only them – can view your profile. Those who are conscious of their online reputation control the privacy settings in order to protect themselves. But what about those people who are unaware of these settings and unaware that their employers know what they did and who they did it with last Saturday night?

Earlier this week we held a debate in class about controversial topics. My group was given the ‘pro’ side of employers using Facebook when hiring new employees. We had 30 minutes to come up with our statements and strongest arguments. We concluded with: If you are a member of Facebook and have made yourself accessible then it is the employers right to conduct a reference check in order to protect themselves and their organization; therefore it is your right to deny access.

The other side argued that it is illegal for employers to ask about the religion, sexual orientation, etc. of an employee and by searching through Facebook they would be able to find that information. It was a good point, but I came back with the need for people to be aware and take responsibility for their own actions. On top of that, it’s up to the individual to write or omit those things, such as religion or age, in their “about me” sections.

You can see how there is a grey area between both sides. On the one hand, if I had my own company and I was interviewing candidates, would I want to learn that last weekend one of the interviewees put up pictures of animal abuse? Would I want someone like that working with me? On the other hand, if an employer was snooping through my page I would feel violated and mistrusted.

The more I learn about Facebook, the more I fear it. Not because I am ashamed of what I have on my profile, but because of the amount of information people can get from you. Employers aside – what about those old “friends” you added when you first joined, but haven’t seen for six years. Are they trustworthy? Do you want them to be seeing all those messages and pictures? I think Facebook has shown me how open and upfront some people can be, which isn’t always a good thing, especially when it comes to the internet.

My advice – enjoy Facebook and social networking, but be conscious because you never know who’s watching. Creepy!