Facebook capers
It seems that everyone is on Facebook nowadays. Even Oxford Dons. The Times reported that:
Staff at Oxford University are searching the website, collecting photographs of students who they say have broken rules on post-examination celebrations, and handing down fines. The student union has branded the move a “disgraceful” intrusion into privacy and has e-mailed every common room advising how to prevent dons viewing the photographs.
I have some sympathy for the students. However, surely you don't simply assume that university authorities will ignore your drunken escapades if they are posted on one of the world's biggest social networking sites? It is bizarre that university employees had the time and the motive to search through the Facebook accounts of thousands of students just to find a few incriminating photos (though you have to admire their dedication).
Now that Facebook has morphed from being mainly populated by students (as it was when I joined in November) to housing thousands of other non-studenty types, even politicians and journalists, it seems foolish to post every silly drunken photo and assume it's only your student friends will see them. As the Times article continues:
A survey of 600 British companies revealed that one in five had logged on to Facebook and other networking websites to vet potential employees. Jacqueline Thomson, from public relations firm Brands2Life, said that she had turned down one applicant after learning that he had used Facebook “to criticise previous employers and discuss company information”
I also really like this one:
Brad Karsh, a US career consultant, turned down a job applicant after reading on Facebook that his interests were “smokin’ blunts with the homies” and “shooting caps into whitie”
That must have been a rather easy decision to make. Either what the applicant said was true, in which case you may not want to share a desk with him, or he had a very bad sense of humour, which is surely an equally viable reason to refuse the "blunt smokin' homie" a job. I also remember seeing another article in which an employer checked a prospective work experience candidate's profile, only to find he was naked in his profile picture. Nice.
The moral of the story must be: remove any incriminating evidence from your profile. If you have to do silly things, don't broadcast it to the rest of the world (and any potential employers, for that matter).
Cory
