Spring Break
Who is watching you?
Social networking can impact future employment
Jacob McCormick
Issue date: 10/15/07 Section: Showcase
When Kelly Jo Wright, communications and journalism senior lecturer, began the first day of her Mass Media and Pop Culture class, she started things off with a PowerPoint presentation. However, this one proved to be much different than the average slide show.
Wright said she took pictures off her students' Facebook accounts and put them into the presentation.
"When you take something like Facebook, literally millions of people can have access to your information," she said. "What amazes me is people knowingly put their information out there and don't think it's a big deal until someone puts pictures up in class."
While Wright's students were a little embarrassed by their pictures on display in a classroom, employers may be just as interested in those pictures in the future job market, and Wright said students should be continually careful about what they put on their profile page.
Such advice is becoming more relevant as new applications, such as "Happy Hour" invites because available on this site.
Social impact
Wright said she isn't sure whether the network's openness is a good or bad thing, but feels it is definitely a sign of American culture. People are constantly making it easier for people to contact them and as a result are putting a lot of personal information on the Web, she added.
Justin Patchin, assistant professor of criminal justice, said Facebook is a great tool for students to meet their social needs and to stay connected with people of similar interests.
"Lots of people condemn these social networks," he said, "but if used wisely, it can be a good thing."
Wright has her own Facebook profile in order to get an idea of who her students are each semester.
"I love Facebook," she said. "It can be a lot of fun but you need to be responsible as to what you include in your profile."
A couple years ago, she said she began realizing the age gap between herself and her students, deciding Facebook would be a good idea to learn where to focus different lecture materials and examples. Wright said she even has to constantly check her comments and photographs people tag of her.
"If I'm uncomfortable with what people said on my wall, I take it down," she said. "As an instructor, I want to maintain a professional persona … I always tell people if you don't want your parents to see what's on your Facebook, you probably shouldn't post it."
She said although no one from the university has confronted her about anything on her profile, she is still very conservative about what she puts on her account.
Wright said she heard of employers checking profiles through discussions with students. She said she isn't surprised it can happen frequently.
Employer interest
"There's been a lot of examples in the media about employers using information from social networks," she said. "Given the information out there in the public realm, it's fair game."
Patchin said he isn't surprised companies check Facebook profiles.
"Employers need any info at their disposal to learn more about a potential employee," he said. "Everyone should assume private authority figures will look at (an account)."
Senior Chantal Ivey, who doesn't have a Facebook account, knows many jobs now look at things like that when considering a potential employee.
"I was an RA for two and a half years, but they didn't have Facebook when I started," she said. "Now, I know when new RAs are hired, (the hiring committees) can look at the applicants' profile and everything."
Employers aren't the only people checking Facebook, Ivey said. RAs have taken tips from the network and punished students for drinking and other violations, Ivey said.
Senior Eric Heilman, who also doesn't have an account, said he feels since the Web site is public, it's reasonable to assume businesses would try to look at a prospective employee's profile.
"You can't really keep them from doing it," he said. "If I had a Facebook page I don't think I would want employers to see it … I'd be afraid they'd get the wrong impression."
As long as the employer is on the site legitimately, they are permitted to see those on their network, according to Facebook. Facebook encourages users to restrict their privacy settings if they do not want others seeing their profile.
Ivey said looking at Facebook would be a big factor for her if she was an employer because it could separate two or more potential hires. If one person seemed very professional compared to someone who had a Facebook with "incriminating" photos, Ivey said it would seem the second applicant would give off a misleading or bad impression.
"I think it would put on a display of recklessness but it's probably not fair to completely judge someone based on Facebook pictures," Ivey said. "But (employers) would want someone to be on top of things."
She said she has heard of one instance involving Facebook in a job interview, where the person conducting the interview made the potential hire pull up their account profile.
"I hear all the time about how employers are checking accounts," she said.
Sophomore Conor Brown said he isn't extremely worried about employers looking at his Facebook.
"Typically you have to have an account or be someone's friend to look at a profile," Brown said. "Maybe if the profile's information is relevant to the job, then it would be worth looking at."
Recommendations
"I'd recommend first of all that students have all their settings to private so only friends can access your personal information," Wright said.
To cater to the needs of potential employers, Patchin recommends students be aware that others may be using anything they put on display from the very beginning.
"When someone starts up any online profile, if they put too much personal information online, somebody can use it to harass you," he said. "And others may use any incriminating evidence on there to exclude you from a potential job."
He said it isn't always just the user that is putting pictures online, as a friend of a friend can tag someone. To combat this, Patchin suggested students constantly look to see what friends are putting online about them in order to keep themselves out of a bad situation.
Even though it can be seen as an invasion of privacy, Ivey thinks that if people are willing to put pictures out in the open for people to see, they should be aware of it.
"It feels like the majority of Facebook pictures are drinking pictures," Ivey said. "I don't know why people would want others to see them, but if you're willing to put it out there then you should be willing to deal with the consequences."
Wright said she took pictures off her students' Facebook accounts and put them into the presentation.
"When you take something like Facebook, literally millions of people can have access to your information," she said. "What amazes me is people knowingly put their information out there and don't think it's a big deal until someone puts pictures up in class."
While Wright's students were a little embarrassed by their pictures on display in a classroom, employers may be just as interested in those pictures in the future job market, and Wright said students should be continually careful about what they put on their profile page.
Such advice is becoming more relevant as new applications, such as "Happy Hour" invites because available on this site.
Social impact
Wright said she isn't sure whether the network's openness is a good or bad thing, but feels it is definitely a sign of American culture. People are constantly making it easier for people to contact them and as a result are putting a lot of personal information on the Web, she added.
Justin Patchin, assistant professor of criminal justice, said Facebook is a great tool for students to meet their social needs and to stay connected with people of similar interests.
"Lots of people condemn these social networks," he said, "but if used wisely, it can be a good thing."
Wright has her own Facebook profile in order to get an idea of who her students are each semester.
"I love Facebook," she said. "It can be a lot of fun but you need to be responsible as to what you include in your profile."
A couple years ago, she said she began realizing the age gap between herself and her students, deciding Facebook would be a good idea to learn where to focus different lecture materials and examples. Wright said she even has to constantly check her comments and photographs people tag of her.
"If I'm uncomfortable with what people said on my wall, I take it down," she said. "As an instructor, I want to maintain a professional persona … I always tell people if you don't want your parents to see what's on your Facebook, you probably shouldn't post it."
She said although no one from the university has confronted her about anything on her profile, she is still very conservative about what she puts on her account.
Wright said she heard of employers checking profiles through discussions with students. She said she isn't surprised it can happen frequently.
Employer interest
"There's been a lot of examples in the media about employers using information from social networks," she said. "Given the information out there in the public realm, it's fair game."
Patchin said he isn't surprised companies check Facebook profiles.
"Employers need any info at their disposal to learn more about a potential employee," he said. "Everyone should assume private authority figures will look at (an account)."
Senior Chantal Ivey, who doesn't have a Facebook account, knows many jobs now look at things like that when considering a potential employee.
"I was an RA for two and a half years, but they didn't have Facebook when I started," she said. "Now, I know when new RAs are hired, (the hiring committees) can look at the applicants' profile and everything."
Employers aren't the only people checking Facebook, Ivey said. RAs have taken tips from the network and punished students for drinking and other violations, Ivey said.
Senior Eric Heilman, who also doesn't have an account, said he feels since the Web site is public, it's reasonable to assume businesses would try to look at a prospective employee's profile.
"You can't really keep them from doing it," he said. "If I had a Facebook page I don't think I would want employers to see it … I'd be afraid they'd get the wrong impression."
As long as the employer is on the site legitimately, they are permitted to see those on their network, according to Facebook. Facebook encourages users to restrict their privacy settings if they do not want others seeing their profile.
Ivey said looking at Facebook would be a big factor for her if she was an employer because it could separate two or more potential hires. If one person seemed very professional compared to someone who had a Facebook with "incriminating" photos, Ivey said it would seem the second applicant would give off a misleading or bad impression.
"I think it would put on a display of recklessness but it's probably not fair to completely judge someone based on Facebook pictures," Ivey said. "But (employers) would want someone to be on top of things."
She said she has heard of one instance involving Facebook in a job interview, where the person conducting the interview made the potential hire pull up their account profile.
"I hear all the time about how employers are checking accounts," she said.
Sophomore Conor Brown said he isn't extremely worried about employers looking at his Facebook.
"Typically you have to have an account or be someone's friend to look at a profile," Brown said. "Maybe if the profile's information is relevant to the job, then it would be worth looking at."
Recommendations
"I'd recommend first of all that students have all their settings to private so only friends can access your personal information," Wright said.
To cater to the needs of potential employers, Patchin recommends students be aware that others may be using anything they put on display from the very beginning.
"When someone starts up any online profile, if they put too much personal information online, somebody can use it to harass you," he said. "And others may use any incriminating evidence on there to exclude you from a potential job."
He said it isn't always just the user that is putting pictures online, as a friend of a friend can tag someone. To combat this, Patchin suggested students constantly look to see what friends are putting online about them in order to keep themselves out of a bad situation.
Even though it can be seen as an invasion of privacy, Ivey thinks that if people are willing to put pictures out in the open for people to see, they should be aware of it.
"It feels like the majority of Facebook pictures are drinking pictures," Ivey said. "I don't know why people would want others to see them, but if you're willing to put it out there then you should be willing to deal with the consequences."
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