File-Sharing Students Say The Ads Made Them Do It
Sprint Invests Again In IPWireless

You Only Have Yourself To Blame: People Losing Jobs Over Social Network Profiles

Culture

from the this-isn't-that-hard-to-figure-out-is-it? dept

Wed, Jan 18th 2006 10:57am — Mike Masnick
Over the past few years, we've had plenty of stories about how Google has become your permanent record, and that can sometimes work against you when looking for a job. Yet another column about that isn't so interesting, but this piece in Computerworld notes that many candidates today are surprised to find out that, beyond just Google, recruiters are probably looking at their social networking profile as well. In other words, those drunken escapades you describe on TheFacebook or in MySpace probably aren't such a good idea as you come on the job market. If the police are using these social networks to track down criminal behavior, it shouldn't be a surprise that recruiters are as well. And, the good news is that, unlike some of the other stuff Google will dig up about you, things in your own profile are under your control.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

15 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Mikester, 18 Jan 2006 @ 11:44am

    Annoying fad anyway

    Cool. Another reason for me to not jump on this social networking site bandwagon. I don't really understand the whole infatuation with it, but maybe that's because I'm not a teenager. I've caroused through MySpace sites and 95% of them are brutal, i.e. terribly designed, slow loading, etc. etc. I get that they aren't all pro web page designers, but you would at least think that there would need to be some appeal other than 'shout-outs' to your friends to keep them coming back.
    I'll be glad when it's over.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Bits, 18 Jan 2006 @ 12:24pm

    What's out there

    What is out there about a particular individual is entirely within the control of that individual. I have information online that I have put out there. I don't think it is all that offesnsive, but it is my personality. if a potential employer sees that info, then so be it. I put it there, I can just as easly remove it, or use it to my advantage by posting info I know "they" will like.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Me, 18 Jan 2006 @ 1:25pm

      Re: What's out there

      What is out there about a particular individual is entirely within the control of that individual.


      How can you say this and think that this is true? A myriad of people could 'control' how an individual is percieved on-line. Even in the physical world what is out there about you is not entirely under your control and the internet is 10x worse. Any smuck could put bogus info about anyone out there.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    TriZz, 18 Jan 2006 @ 12:59pm

    No Subject Given

    I have a myspace profile and it's been really good to me.

    I've met girls and dated them...

    I've met new friends because of myspace. Myspace is great.

    I don't have anything incriminating on mine though, so I don't think I'd be too bothered by a future employer checking mine out...although there are some blogs dedicated to my depression.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Keith, 18 Jan 2006 @ 1:04pm

    No Subject Given

    Fuck 'em!

    http://www.myspace.com/keithrichards

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon

    ummm...welllll...DUHHH!!!! did you think people WO

    Seems to me that the only people that would have an issue with this are the people that live a lifestyle that they either are or possibly should be ashamed of. I'm a family man with a good job and friends all over the country that I don't get to see on a regular basis. I use MySpace to keep in touch with those people and my family that I also don't get to see all that often as I normally work nights. Of course I have friends on my list with "questionable" content on their sites...but they're not me. So if someone wants to have issues issues with me due to my firends, then I say they aren't the kind of people I'd want to work for anyways.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    s, 18 Jan 2006 @ 2:55pm

    nickname anyone?

    myspace isnt just for teenagers. however i tend to agree that there are some just terrible pages. age doesn't necessarily have anything to do with taste.

    and, you can have a presence in the online world and the average joe wouldnt know who you are if you used a nickname. goodness, how difficult is that? you dont have to tell anyone but your friends about your nickname. and where you use your nickname, NEVER POST YOUR REAL NAME! or even uniquely identifiable information.

    in other words, dont put the email you gave to your boss on the site. use a separate personal email. things like aliases and forwarding make this easy to manage.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    rob mata, 18 Jan 2006 @ 3:07pm

    here's an idea

    don't be an idiot - get two profiles, one with your real name for tracking purposes (because your long lost friends will never find you with a weird ass nickname) and another, with pictures where you're running around naked with flowers on your head on the gay infested streets of san francisco.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Professor HighBrow, 22 Jan 2006 @ 6:30am

      Re: here's an idea

      Kudos! I like this comment.

      Just don't be retarded, and you're pretty much OK. If your employer finds a gallery of pictures of your naked self streaking across public parks with your 'piece' hanging out and flapping in the wind, that's your fault. You posted them for the rest of the world to see... and sould be able to remove them just as easily.

      Don't get mad if you make an appearance on Girls gone Wild or whatever that new one for women is, Guys gone Wild or something like that, when someone buys the video and calls you on it for flashing your bad-self on camera and signing a release in exhange for 'valuable prizes' or more drinks.

      It's not that difficult to be anyonymous on the internet; like Mata said, go under an alias.
      For the terminally stupid, just take your name, put an "izzle" in the middle, add a "Sexy" to the front, and a suffix to the end like "Esquire."
      Now "George" becomes SexyGeoGizzle, M.D. and you're all set.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Dogstar Lightheart, 18 Jan 2006 @ 3:21pm

    You only have yourself to blame if...

    As a general rule, I don't post anything online that is not the truth, or that is denegrating to another individual, or would put me in anothing other than a good light. If you are stupid enough to write details about anything questionable, whether it be an act or thought or even the crowd you run with, then you probably deserve any attention you get.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    haggie, 18 Jan 2006 @ 3:31pm

    No Subject Given

    Life is one big intelligence test. MySpace didn't get these people fired or not hired, it was their own stupidity. I'll bet that if MySpace didn't exist these same people would be unable to find or maintain gainful employment for some other equally idiotic reason. The Internet doesn't make people into idiots, it just gives idiots a new playground.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    kookoo, 1 May 2008 @ 6:02am

    well, when im on myspace i dont say everything about me, i use a diff. name and where i live, its weird...

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 4 Jun 2008 @ 4:15pm

    aass

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    dfsgbdfodfgbdf;lsdf, 10 Jan 2009 @ 5:15pm

    wow immaturity of employers

    they shouldnt judge on what people have on their personal site anyway im sure at one point in their lives those people hiring the people they searched have done stuff like that in their life time and there is a big difference between social life and professional life so it shouldnt impact if they get hired or not it is redundant to not hire because of a webpage

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]


File-Sharing Students Say The Ads Made Them Do It
Sprint Invests Again In IPWireless
Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

Friday

19:39 Important Announcement: Techdirt Is Migrating To A New Platform (0)
More arrow

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.