Rejected From College Because Of Your Facebook Profile?

from the your-new-permanent-record dept

Tue, Sep 23rd 2008 4:22am — Mike Masnick

We've all seen the stories about potential dates or employers scanning your social network profiles to decide what they think of you, but what about your potential university? Slashdot points us to a study suggesting that 10% of universities now examine social network profiles as part of their efforts to evaluate applicants. And, in some of those cases, the profiles hurt candidates to the point of having admissions directors change their minds. Other universities claim that they don't think it's right to view such "personal" spaces, but you have to wonder if that view will change over time. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with universities doing this. They're used to just seeing a carefully controlled image of the student, and what's on their social networking sites may reveal a lot more useful info. However, it seems like students should at least be aware that this public display of information is being added to their "permanent record" for consideration at universities.

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Filed Under: applications, college, social networks

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SteveD, 23 Sep 2008 @ 4:59am

It says a lot about a University that would turn away a student based on single drunken photo (although I guess there are the US drinking laws to conisder).

If Universities are there to prepare students for work in the real world they should follow the same employment rules as real businesses. For an employer to scrutinise or monitor the private life of an employee is widely deemed inappropriate.

And where does it end?

Will I someday find myself loosing out on a job because some bored HR worker googled my name and found some decade-old blog reply that didn’t fall in line with company values?

Interview and application processes work in a certain manner for a reason. Employers are required to structure these processes in a manner that demonstrates to regulators that selections are made without bias. References are provided to give employers the broader picture. If an employer goes on the net to start digging dirt on a candidate it quite clearly falls outside this regulation, publicly available or not.
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some old guy, 23 Sep 2008 @ 5:22am

Re:
For an employer to scrutinise (sic) or monitor the private life of an employee is widely deemed inappropriate.

No it's not. It's rather expected in almost all areas of expertise.

If you don't like that, you shouldn't be working at a place where personal performance matters. I myself have been in the position to hire/fire people for potential liabilities, and I have several times chosen to hire a less qualified candidate because (s)he did not brag about drinking problems online. I also had an employee brag about excessive drinking in the workplace. I told him he wasn't allowed to drink on work nights if he couldn't control his drinking. He chose to ignore me. The first time he came in with alcohol on the breath and hungover, he was fired.

Your personal life is a liability to your employer. They have a right to manage their liabilities.
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Ima Fish, 23 Sep 2008 @ 5:29am

"Other universities claim that they don't think it's right to view such "personal" spaces"

A personal space might be anywhere inside your underwear, your refrigerator, your porn stash underneath your mattress... but your personal space could never be a website fully accessible by the public. And anyone who thinks that a website that is fully accessible to the public is somehow private or personal is an idiot.
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Ima Fish, 23 Sep 2008 @ 5:31am

Re:
"For an employer to scrutinise or monitor the private life of an employee is widely deemed inappropriate."

I don't mean to be a douche, but if your life is on the internet for all to see, it's no longer private. If you truly think that, you're an idiot.
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Yosi, 23 Sep 2008 @ 5:32am

>> Your personal life is a liability to your employer.

What kind of BS is that? What my performance have to do with personal life? Coming with alcohol breath to the office is not a "personal life", you know.
My personal life called "personal" for a reason. And the reason is that it's none of my employer business.
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BS, 23 Sep 2008 @ 5:36am

Personal
My personal life is just that; P-E-R-S-O-N-A-L!

As long as I keep my personal life from overflowing into my work there is NO reason for an employer to stick his nose in it. Old guy, you had NO right to tell that employee they couldn't drink during the week. However, I do feel that you have every right to fire somone for showing up hungover and unable to perform their work adequately. Sounds like you're an uptight dickwad that was looking for an excuse to fire the braggart. I suppose you're happy with yourself now.
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Ima Fish, 23 Sep 2008 @ 5:38am

Re:
"What my performance have to do with personal life?"

If you want your personal life to be private, keep it private. However, once make your personal life public, by placing your life on the internet for the entire planet to see, then you no longer have anything to complain about.

And if you had a choice wherein everything was equal, but one of the candidate might have a drinking problem, who would you hire? It doesn't matter, the employer would hire the guy without the drinking problem.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Sep 2008 @ 5:44am

Re:
Judging from your post, you must still be a little drunk now.
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cloksin, 23 Sep 2008 @ 5:45am

Re: Re:
Some old guy, you are so out of lline its not funny,a person's personal life is just that, personal, and if you actually do fire someone because you don't like what they are doing in their personal life than you have the potential for a cival suit against you for wrongful termination. Get off your high horse and stop being such a bigot!!!
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Sep 2008 @ 5:47am

What your actions have consequences? Never. That is what freedom of speech means. We can say whatever we want and no one can judge us.
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Ima Fish, 23 Sep 2008 @ 5:47am

Re: Personal
"As long as I keep my personal life from overflowing into my work there is NO reason for an employer to stick his nose in it."

The employer does have that right. Because you have no right to be hired by him. It's completely his discretion.

If he doesn't want to hire you because he found a picture of you drunk on Facebook, that's completely legal. Heck, he can choose not to hire you for wearing a pink shirt. He can choose not to hire you because you're too smart. He can choose not to hire you because you went to the wrong university.

He can choose not to hire you for any reason other than your race, gender, disability, and religious orientation. (And in Michigan, for your weight.)
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Ima Fish, 23 Sep 2008 @ 5:52am

Re: Re: Re:
"As long as I keep my personal life from overflowing into my work there is NO reason for an employer to stick his nose in it."

The employer does have that right. Because you have no right to be hired by him. It's completely his discretion.

If he doesn't want to hire you because he found a picture of you drunk on Facebook, that's completely legal. Heck, he can choose not to hire you for wearing a pink shirt. He can choose not to hire you because you're too smart. He can choose not to hire you because you went to the wrong university.

He can choose not to hire you for any reason other than your race, gender, disability, and religious orientation. (And in Michigan, for your weight.)
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Ima Fish, 23 Sep 2008 @ 5:55am

Re: Re: Re:
"if you actually do fire someone because you don't like what they are doing in their personal life than you have the potential for a cival suit against you for wrongful termination."

I don't know where you live, but in the US it's only illegal to fire or not hire someone based on historical discrimination such as race, gender, religion, disability, etc. It's perfectly legal to fire someone (other than for union rules, which would not be a civil matter) merely because the boss doesn't like you.
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Medic, 23 Sep 2008 @ 5:55am

I understand here both sides are coming from. I'm an EMT and I can't drink within 24 hrs of me working on the clock. I can understand that due to liability issues and safety for the patient, but if I'm off for the next couple of days and choose to drink then so be it. Also, it is always good to carry yourself in a manner that does hurt your image and where you are employeed. People can remember faces and they will always match the stupid actions to the face. If they see you in a respectable position, they will see you as that stupid person.
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hegemon13, 23 Sep 2008 @ 5:59am

Re:
"For an employer to scrutinise or monitor the private life of an employee is widely deemed inappropriate."

Indeed, but MySpace and Facebook are not "private life." They are very public. Unfortunately, many of the current generation of teenagers don't realize this. Over time, it will become common understanding that posting something on the internet is as public as publishing a book about it.
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Matt, 23 Sep 2008 @ 6:01am

It may be best to avoid making your personal life open to the public if you fear what your employer, or in this case, your college can find out regarding it.

When you make it public, people are bound to judge you in some way or fashion.
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some old guy, 23 Sep 2008 @ 6:08am

Re: Personal
Old guy, you had NO right to tell that employee they couldn't drink during the week.

Just like you, he chose to mis-interpret my statement. When he was fired, he tried to get me fired by reporting me to HR for telling him what he could(n't) do during his personal time.

I said he wasn't allowed to drink if he couldn't control it. Meaning, you better not drink if it means you are going to come to work drunk. Meaning, his personal life DID spill over into his work. And I didn't fire him for drinking during his off time. I fired him for coming to work drunk.

HR backed me 100%.

Yes, I am happy with myself now.
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TPBer, 23 Sep 2008 @ 6:09am

Re: Re:
It's because the younger gen (whatever) is basically clueless to privacy.

You know, keep your fucking mouth shut about anything you don't want others to know. Who gives a fuck about your stupid escapades except other clueless retards. They definitely would not make very good employees that need any sort of security clearance.
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A Different Old Guy, 23 Sep 2008 @ 6:13am

Re: Clocksin
Yeah right. Just like it's against the law to be discriminated against because you have long shoulder length hair, are wearing a turban or kirpan, in casual dress, or whatever. Regardless of your education, try being a muslim with shoulder length hair wearing standard middle east robes and see if you can get a job at a Wall street law firm. Even better, show up at a job interview with over dressed bling looking like a 1970's pimp and see if you can get hired.

Of course rejection for any of these reasons are also eligible for a civil suit, but, the employer can make up many reasons as to why to not choose that person over another. If you make your personal life public, an employer will look at and take it into account, and if they don't like it for any reason, you don't get the job. That's the reality of it.

My company has a no drinking law. Drink and you get fired. If you have a glass of wine at lunch, don't return to the office that day. Can't even buy a bottle of wine and keep it in your briefcase to take home. If at home and on call, no drinking. No exceptions. Want to keep working, don't drink on company duty.
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JBB, 23 Sep 2008 @ 6:23am

Doesn't have anything to do with the company?
"As long as I keep my personal life from overflowing into my work there is NO reason for an employer to stick his nose in it."

Uh, yeah. By that logic, there'd never be a government sex scandal, and there'd be no reason to do a background check. Hey, if I steal or murder on my own time, why should the company care? Absolutely brilliant logic.
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kinnunen, 23 Sep 2008 @ 6:47am

Free Speech
Freedom of speech means that you can say what you want and the government cannot prosecute you for it. You can be judged for it all day long.
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Doc (profile), 23 Sep 2008 @ 6:47am

I can't believe someone said this...!
By SteveD
It says a lot about a University that would turn away a student based on single drunken photo (although I guess there are the US drinking laws to consider). If Universities are there to prepare students for work in the real world they should follow the same employment rules as real businesses. For an employer to scrutinise or monitor the private life of an employee is widely deemed inappropriate. -[Dude... where do you work??? What employer DOESN'T care about what their employees do after work?] And where does it end? Will I someday find myself loosing out on a job because some bored HR worker googled my name and found some decade-old blog reply that didn’t fall in line with company values? Interview and application processes work in a certain manner for a reason. Employers are required to structure these processes in a manner that demonstrates to regulators that selections are made without bias. References are provided to give employers the broader picture. If an employer goes on the net to start digging dirt on a candidate it quite clearly falls outside this regulation, publicly available or not.
Without bias? Where do YOU live? Certainly not in the United States. Color, Gender, personal presentability, and social ranking are STILL the most influential things in getting a job. Whether you LIKE it or not, or whether it's legal or not does not matter. You certainly won't see McDonalds or Burger King discriminating, but any real firm that hires PROFESSIONALS, will do anything to make sure that the elite get hired. Period. If you're dumb enough, and irresponsible enough to display your so-called "PRIVATE LIFE" online. It ain't private no more bub! Bccause you just showed everyone on the planet your "real" side. An employer sees you for 8 hours. But you have 16 more left in the day to make an ass of yourself and be a liability to your company.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Sep 2008 @ 6:47am

Re: Re: Personal
What if your religion is drunkism and the local bar is your church?
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KM, 23 Sep 2008 @ 6:49am

Where have you been???
Employers have been checking social sites since they have been around. My friends job does just that. If your not smart enough to change preferences to block unwanted viewers then dont use it. You don't deserve a job if you cant make yourself look professional. Change your voice mail message. Delete or block your social profiles on the web. Dont use unprofessional email addresses. ITS NOT HARD PEOPLE!!!
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kinnunen, 23 Sep 2008 @ 6:51am

Re: Personal
The first time you do something in your personal life while you can be easily identified as an employee of a company (going to the bar in a company shirt, bragging that you work for so-and-so inc.) that company is absolutely allowed to determine what you do when you're not at work because you're still affecting their image.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Sep 2008 @ 6:51am

"Uh, yeah. By that logic, there'd never be a government sex scandal, and there'd be no reason to do a background check. Hey, if I steal or murder on my own time, why should the company care? Absolutely brilliant logic."

Not to mention pre-employment drug screening. Just because someone smokes pot or something doesn't mean that they are gonna be doing at or before work or that they would have to steal to support the habbit. But this is a legal process in America.
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brwyatt, 23 Sep 2008 @ 6:55am

private life
I don't think "personal life" or "private life" is a literal as everyone seems to think. I think that in this day and age anything you do on your free time or with friends is considered your "personal life" - AKA: not work or business - no matter how public it might be - at the local park or internet. It seems that so far others have been interpreting "private life" to mean what you do in a darkened room away from everyone's view... which, I don't know about y'all, but for me the only time I'm fully alone, not even talking to someone on line, I'm usually just sleeping, so based on y'all's interpretation, only the fact that I sleep can't be used against me. If I said that I hate either Obama or Mccain (etc), or that I hate Bush, or that my mother really pisses me off on a forum, blog, or even over AIM (yes, AIM conversations can be logged remotely)... my would-have-been-employer can decide to not hire me? Now, if I were posing about raping little girls or murder, that would be a different story that is a LEGAL issue and would be as much evidence as fingerprint or note left at the crime scene... ANYTHING that doesn't have any relevance to the job in question should NOT be used in a decision to hire you (or accept you to university)... bad OR good. If you were applying for a job a an animal shelter and you blogged about how your dog was barking and you were in a bad mood and kicked it, no you should not be hired. But if you blogged about getting drunk and having sex and regretting it (etc)... then NO that SHOULD NOT be used in the decision. This is about discretion... anyone who refuses to hire (or fires) someone for something done in the past that has no relation to the job is a bigoted retard with his own skeletons in his own closet that he is trying to keep others away from.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Sep 2008 @ 6:58am

Re: Re:
Absolutely correct! It's no longer personal once you put your life up on the internet for all to see. I'm assuming that people who don't agree, would want to hide a certain aspect of their personal life to would be employers/schools. So, in that respect, don't be stupid and put pictures of you taking bong hits or slamming beers on a Tuesday on your public webpage.
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hahaha, 23 Sep 2008 @ 7:00am

I really wonder what people have been smoking when they comment here.

Your personal life, as others have stated is in fact personal. However, Facebook and Myspace, if you don't make them private...is NOT personal. It is available for public viewing and scrutiny.

If you are a corporation, and you go public, your financial documents are all available for public viewing, which may change the public's view of said company.

You as an individual are no different. If you write stupidly on your blog, take drunken pictures dressed in drag, have a picture of you with a bong/hookah/whatever, and it's all public...don't be shocked if someone finds it and uses it against you.

Furthermore, it may not affect your performance, but it does affect image, and while an employer may not care about your personal image, they do care about their own and that of their company. As insignificant as your boozing might seem (and will continue to be), your employer may not see it that way.

Not to mention that, above all else, most places are "at will" and people forget that. Unless you're with a union or something, you can be fired for any reason that does not descriminate by race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. You may also quit for any reason. Even that "two weeks notice" that most employers ask of you is only a courtesy, and you'd be hard pressed to find an employer who will give you ANY notice.
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nasch, 23 Sep 2008 @ 7:11am

Re: Re: Clocksin
Of course rejection for any of these reasons are also eligible for a civil suit,

Anything is eligible for a civil suit. Literally, anything. I can sue you because you smell bad, and that would have almost as much chance of success as the pimp suing an interviewer for not hiring him based on his clothing. Style of dress and hair are not in the protected categories for which discrimination is prohibited.
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Benjamin Wright, 23 Sep 2008 @ 7:14am

end user license agreement (EULA) for social net pages?
To deter educators from viewing social networking pages, students might post legal terms of service under which educators agree to scram. This idea should not be taken as legal advice, just something to think about. --Ben http://hack-igations.blogspot.com/2007/11/privacy-advocates-such-as-nyu-professor.html
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Nervous, 23 Sep 2008 @ 7:15am

It's not just you, too
There is also a growing risk that it won't be your site that exposes your 'seamier side". Your friends that use the social networking sites can post your picture on their site, attribute it to you and not require permission. And once the information or images are on the net, it can be impossible to recall them.
The internet has become a new social medium that will require a new etiquette. It is not just a matter of how you present yourself but also how you present your friends and acquaintances.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Sep 2008 @ 7:48am

I can't believe some of the idiotic comments on here. If you are the kind of person who posts questionable material on your myspace/facebook pages, then that says an incredible amount about you as a person. This is actually a great way of telling how immature a person is, what their priorities are, how well they will represent their future career/school.

To say a public website is a personal space is absurd. If you want it private, flag it private so they can't view your pictures and personal information.
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chris (profile), 23 Sep 2008 @ 8:02am

it's simple, really
if your personal life is a problem for an employer, find a new employer.

i can tell you that if who i am is a problem for my current or potential employer, then i am not going to be happy there and need to be looking elsewhere.

not every company is run by pointy haired bosses and orwellian hr managers.
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JR, 23 Sep 2008 @ 8:03am

Those who publicly exhibit the hubris of their own narcissistic existence have little right to complain when then judged according to another organization's social values. Let the whole package be scrutinized, not just their own personal spin.
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TheDock22, 23 Sep 2008 @ 8:08am

Health Insurance
Wow I am surprised nobody brought up the point of health insurance and why companies ARE starting to take an interest in their employees personal life. Think about it this way. Company pays a certain percentage of money to supply health insurance for their employees. The employee kicks in some money to help out. Let's say 80% of the employees use their health insurance responsibly, annual check up and maybe once or twice throughout the year for other illnesses. Now let's say the other 20% are involved in risky activities when it comes to health (smoking, binge drinking, extremely dangerous sports, etc.) and end up using their health insurance benefits a lot plus missing work and taking sick days to recover from their vices.

What do you think is going to happen? The insurance company is going to step up and say "Hey, you need to start paying us more money if you abuse your benefits like this." The company MAY be able to justify a couple dollar increase for the staff, but they sure can't charge the 20% more money for their health benefits without a lawsuit. So suddenly the company is out money, your co-workers are out money, and all because you need to partake in risky activities. Of course companies have a right to take an interest in their employees "personal" life, as wrong as we might find this.

We live in a sad day and age where people think they can do whatever they want without consequence. We need to teach the next generation that their actions DO matter, and if that means being denied from college then so be it.
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Versed, 23 Sep 2008 @ 8:28am

He wasn't fired, he just wasn't hired.
Point is, this person was not let go from his job because of his facebook page, he just wasn't hired. Two different things.
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JB, 23 Sep 2008 @ 8:31am

Use to Your Advantage
A kid could easily turn this around and use it to con his way into a college.

You could post pictures of yourself purportedly working with the special olympics, write about how you can't go out with your friends because you're helping serve meals at the soup kitchen, etc.

Set this up and then send out your college applications.
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Esahc (profile), 23 Sep 2008 @ 8:34am

Why do people even use there real names on social networks? Seriously, let HR or Universities search for me. If your advertising questionable behavior stop using your actual name.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Sep 2008 @ 8:39am

Re: Re: Re:
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CEO, 23 Sep 2008 @ 8:41am

Gotta Be Kidding
To #27 brwyat who stated ... "But if you blogged about getting drunk and having sex and regretting it (etc)... then NO that SHOULD NOT be used in the decision. This is about discretion... anyone who refuses to hire (or fires) someone for something done in the past that has no relation to the job is a bigoted retard."

Yeah, sure. Nice rhetoric, but nowhere close to reality.
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Mike_N_TN, 23 Sep 2008 @ 8:43am

Personal life is employers business
I guess maybe most of you work in mundane jobs where this isn't an issue? I spent 9 years in the military and since leaving the military have worked as a civilian in the same career field.

My personal life is very much my employers business for the same reason a bank will run a credit check on prospective employees. If you have bad credit because you don't pay your bills on time (which is personal) it could affect you on the job if you decide to steal money.

I am in a position where poor decisions in my personal life could potentially make me a liability to my employer because someone tries to blackmail me because of what I do off the job.

Depending on what you decide to do your employer may decide crawl up and down your personal life with a microscope and there is nothing you can do about it but go work at McDonald's if you don't like it.
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Sicko, 23 Sep 2008 @ 8:51am

Re: Health Insurance
"Don't hire or keep sick people, they are disposable, just throw them away."

What is really unfortunate is that the US business model and corporate greed has caused this to be a true statement. It says a lot about a country and it's social values when the people of a country are merely treated as disposable items.

The US needs a serious change in the way it does business and takes care of it's own. A major step towards socialized medecine while taxing corporate greed is needed.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Sep 2008 @ 8:52am

Re: Re:
hey nincompoop old guy,

notice you didnt fire him until his personal life had a measurable and indisputable impact on his work life, by coming in hangover.

you therefore concede that you can be biased all you want by his private life but that this is not sufficient grounds for action.
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Mike, 23 Sep 2008 @ 8:59am

Yeah right
"But if you blogged about getting drunk and having sex and regretting it (etc)... then NO that SHOULD NOT be used in the decision. This is about discretion... anyone who refuses to hire (or fires) someone for something done in the past that has no relation to the job is a bigoted retard."

What if it wasn't blogged? let's say you had sex with the hiring guy's cousin, and then dumped her. You didn't blog about it, but the cousin told him verbally...

Would you get the job?
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tahuti, 23 Sep 2008 @ 9:16am

Fakes
If you are employer how would you know it is fake profile. Wasn't there a lawsuit against student who put fake principal's facebook profile?
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Considering, 23 Sep 2008 @ 9:24am

Would you want to fly on a plane where the pilot was out drinking the night before and possibly hung over? Would you like to order food from a chef that may or may not remember what the list of ingredients are in the meal? And that's just the drinking aspect. Like it or not, there are business ramifications to social behavior. Even if you personally don't care about these sorts of thing, employees and companies get sued regularly over what is considered negligence. That has to be a consideration when hiring.
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Rose M. Welch, 23 Sep 2008 @ 9:43am

Re: Re: Re:
Pre-employment and randonm drug testing, anyone? That's incredibly acceptable by today's standards and it hits right in the 'personal life' area.
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Rose M. Welch, 23 Sep 2008 @ 9:43am

Re: Re: Re:
Pre-employment and randonm drug testing, anyone? That's incredibly acceptable by today's standards and it hits right in the 'personal life' area.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Sep 2008 @ 10:12am

Re: Re: Re: Personal
I worship at the altar of His Highness Jimmy Buffett.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Sep 2008 @ 10:16am

Re: Gotta Be Kidding
He didn't say that is how it is, just how it should or should not be, and I agree completely.

While I can understand the arguments supporting the right of companies/universities to do such things, I can't help feeling disturbed by the implication that companies are effectively buying more than your skills or the work you do for them, they are buying YOU.
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jfv2000, 23 Sep 2008 @ 10:33am

Re: "Personal Life" - get real and get a clue....
The day you signed on to your employer's health plan, group term life and disability plans they have a vested interest in your personal behavior. They pay at least a portion of the premiums on those things and even if they didn't, there is still the expectation that you will be a dependable employee and that your coke-snorting won't impair your ability to run that subway train or whatever. Get a clue. Look up the word "interdependent."
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Psycho, 23 Sep 2008 @ 10:50am

No way!
What if the personal information posted is fake? How can you rely on the information given? Granted that we have to use a school email address to sign up for Facebook. But for all we know, their account could have been hacked. And the picture of you being drunk could have been photoshoped.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Sep 2008 @ 10:55am

Hiring Decisions via Social Network? Why yes Of Course!
BEWARE! Here's my story:

I've seen a rash of people with my name, putting up social network profiles. It's kinda funny, because whenever I suffer boredom, I google myself, find another me, I send them an email. After all, who wouldn't want to talk to someone with the same name? I have come to learn these guys live across the country. One of these guys, is my same age played football and also ran marathons. "Shit", I thought, "that's cool!" We conversed over email and talked about lots of stuff.

A year later, in passing, a boss at a company said something like "I bet you played football in Highschool"

"What??" I knew exactly what that meant, and I was dumbfounded. I didn't have an answer for them, but after a while, they realized. Probably the bombshell was when I casually mentioned that I didn't have two children. But instead of owning up to it, they were embarrassed and found an excuse to let me go- I finished my work. That's great, huh?

But it's absolutely astounding that these things are used to make any type of rational work related decision. After all, everything on the internet is true.
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Fred, 23 Sep 2008 @ 11:07am

Re: Health Insurance
Don't forget any Workman's Comp claims.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Sep 2008 @ 11:14am

Re: Hiring Decisions via Social Network? Why yes Of Course!
Oh, this was around that time that my "Other Me" was also accepted into Med-School. Maybe they blogged about that on the social site. That could have been it too.

Who knows? I am not that person!
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Johann, 23 Sep 2008 @ 11:46am

The danger of real name SNS is evident. I mean if you run a blog or SNS by your real name, you are responsible for the content. If you expose some misdemeanor or bad behavior in your blog/SNS and get in trouble, you have only yourself to blame.
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SteveD, 23 Sep 2008 @ 1:23pm

Re: Re:
"No it's not. It's rather expected in almost all areas of expertise. If you don't like that, you shouldn't be working at a place where personal performance matters."

You've confused what I said.

I was trying to draw the line between what happens inside of work and outside of work, you've merged the two.

If something you do outside of work (such as drinking heavily the night before) effects your working performance then obviously, that's an issue. Its quite different from you're boss following you into a bar on the weekend and watching what you do (yeah, that's in a public place too, thus it must be public and not private, right?).
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Frank, 23 Sep 2008 @ 2:40pm

Re: Re: Re:
If Jim Halpert had a Myspace page, what would it look like?

Booze Cruise?
Rants about Dwight?
Poetry from Pam?
Discussions with Ryan?
All this could be twisted to fit whatever preconceived notion exists.

But what's being missed is your hiring a person and them to accomplish a task and create a work product. You’re NOT hiring a social circle. Some are quick to rush to conclusions based on 3rd party info, and when Colleges make rash decisions without being given a chance to defend themselves, it really doesn't benefit anyone. On the flip side of the coin, companies that continue this practice may very well have a real hard time retaining good employees who maintain a social life outside work. I imagine productivity may suffer because of group-think mentality and everyone hired lacks social or computer skills.

You work to live NOT live to work.
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cloksin, 24 Sep 2008 @ 10:51am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
"I don't know where you live, but in the US it's only illegal to fire or not hire someone based on historical discrimination such as race, gender, religion, disability, etc. It's perfectly legal to fire someone (other than for union rules, which would not be a civil matter) merely because the boss doesn't like you."

Actually, if you get fired because the boss tells you that he doesn't like you, that's wrongful termination. If they fire you because of something you did outside of work hours, that's wrongful termination. Employee's have a lot more rights than employers or the government like to let you know.
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kilroy55, 5 Nov 2008 @ 10:26pm

personal info being hacked into by corporate firms or schools
if we have a face book or my space account that is being hacked into by company for university in order to view personal profiles...how is that legal?...keep seeing folks say "...well, if its private, don’t put it on the net for everyone to see...". That is the point, it’s not for everyone to see...only people that we giver permission to. If you setup your account for everyone to see...then you have no right to complain. I am hearing of human resources dept. and IT folks teaming up to hack into potential employees after the interview process. If ANYONE gets access to my private face book profile without my permission, I would press charges.
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Arda Keskinkilic, 30 Dec 2008 @ 2:29pm

Naked Photos & Strange Peoples
Some strange people add lots of naked photos.Facebook is going to like a porn site.When i open my profile,everyday i see naked photos,drunk peoples photos.is it good? i have got too like this photos but why i dont add it? Because they are strange people i'm not.Best regards from Turkey..
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Captain Obvious, 28 Jan 2009 @ 1:26am

Here is a simple solution:

Set your profile and albums to private. Use an alternate email address from you regular one and especially the one on your resume. If prospective employers ask you if you have a FB or Myspace profile, guess what you should say?? "NO!"
Also, don't add people who you work with, unless you know they are 100% cool. Last but not least, use discretion when posting ANYTHING online.
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Jeremy Klaff, 30 Mar 2009 @ 5:24am

Re: YES!
You sir, are a gangster... Straight up.
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Dough, 19 Apr 2009 @ 8:30pm

How to view private facebook profiles
Facebook is extreamly insecure. You can easily view private profiles. This is horrible. Take a look at this article: http://howtoviewprivatefacebookprofiles.com/
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view private facebook profiles, 29 Jun 2009 @ 3:34am

really wierd
This should not be the way of hiring... students will not have any freedom to choose friend they want...
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Rosalind Sharpe, 24 Mar 2010 @ 9:17am

WHAT?
I cannot believe that the admmissions offices around the UK would do this. Many people act differently online than offline and I think that it is evil to judge people just because you watched their actions online for a day. It is outrageous and i would not feel safe acting out of line if I knew they were watching me. They might not know that the admissions office are watching them. DO you know if the hopeful students do know?
Thankyou.
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Angelina, 20 Dec 2010 @ 10:02am

How to view private facebook profiles
Facebook is not doing a very good job at being secure. Read this article:
http://howtoviewprivatefacebookprofiles.net
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Jeckyll, 2 Nov 2011 @ 11:41am

Make Your Albums Private
Always make sure to make your albums,wall posts,comments private.Or share it with specific people.Your data shouldn't be viewed by everyone on Facebook.Actually,there are some security holes.Despite the fact that some people use hack tools to view the private profiles,everybody doesn't know how to do this.So adjusting your account's accessibility might work.

If you want to learn more about your account's privacy,please take a moment to read this article;

http://www.facebookviewer.com/2011/10/how-to-hide-photo-album-of-yours.html
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