Spring Break
Social networking sites pose potential threat to job seekers
Lakeisha Goodman
Issue date: 11/11/08 Section: Features
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"It seems cool to have a Web page that can reflect on my own unique individuality," said Adams.
Among the many social networking sites, Black Planet, MySpace, and others, Facebook became the most popular to many students on ECU's campus. The main appeal was that Facebook was exclusively for college students.
"It was a great way to keep in touch with friends who went to different schools," Adams said.
However, as Facebook became even more popular, it became open to high school students, and eventually anyone with an e-mail address.
Lorna Poe, a junior at ECU, initially joined one of the social networking communities to keep up with old friends.
While she likes how the sites keep track of all of her friends' birthdays, Poe is a little wary of how open things are.
"The mini-feeds [on Facebook] tell way too much," she said, referring to the list of individual changes that friends have made on their profiles. These informational updates can range from pictures added, relationship status changes and a new blog post.
Potential employers and others who hold authoritative positions are aware of these sites, and are doing checks on potential employees or subordinates. Investigative reports conducted by CBS News found that about 20 percent of employers typically scan online profiles, including pictures on social networking sites. By simply typing in one's name on Google or other search engines, has made it easier for employers to find these profiles.
Adams has mixed feelings about companies checking the profiles of potential employees.
"People should have their privacy rights, but then again a company shouldn't want an employee who reflects the company to have explicit or inappropriate things on their profile pages," Adams said.
While many may feel that what is on their profile should not be a problem, under the USA PATRIOT Act, certain companies have the legal right to search the profiles of potential employees.
The USA PATRIOT Act, which President George W. Bush signed in 2001 to go into effect, is aimed to allow law enforcement to go through e-mail, telephone records and the like to cut down on the attempts at terrorism.
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