Social Networking’s Dark Side
Like dieters who knows there’s damage being done but simply can’t resist, those of us who post personal information on social networking sites can’t seem to heed the wise old warning: "A moment on the lips, forever on the hips."
Don’t believe that a momentary truth has lasting consequences? Just ask bong smoker and ex-Kellogg’s shill Michael Phelps. He’ll tell you that moral, social or legal transgressions can come back to haunt you. A lapse in judgment, preserved in Internet amber, can result in everything from public humiliation to the loss of a potential college admissions slot to having your resume end up in the "No" pile.
What’s worse, those who evaluate us based on our online presence may do so without us ever knowing that a flamboyant photo or an outrageous blog posting was the deciding factor.
In a country where the majority of states offer no employment protection based on sexual orientation, being out, loud and proud online can be the deciding factor in losing a job - or never scoring that coveted interview.
Call it the dark side of the Internet revolution.
"All of the information that Affirmative Action was supposed to make irrelevant or inconsequential to making decisions has now become easily obtainable through a quick online search." says research psychologist Larry Rosen (a professor of psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills - and author of "Me, MySpace & I: Parenting the Net Generation").
Putting Your Best Face(book) Forward
In 2003, when Facebook was still a closed network just for college students, Yianni Garcia (his website), was one of the first 50,000 students to establish a presence on Facebook. Today, the Social media strategist notes that "I’m twenty-three, and social networks have been a part of my life since I can remember." Despite his longstanding techno savvy, Garcia recalls the mad dash he made to take down "500 photos of me at 300 parties" upon graduating from college.
"When Facebook started catching on, I didn’t think this was something I was going to have to censor for my friends, family, school administrators, and future employers. It was like a digital playground."
After reading a 2007 article in his alma matter’s Daily Free Press (about a girl getting in Dutch for a Facebook photo of her with a joint), "I started thinking I need to clean up my Facebook profile, because it may be exposed to more people than my peers."
Employers & Admissions Officers Are Looking
Beautifully illustrating the surreal process by which information posted by one is soon disseminated by many, a recent Yahoo tech article referenced a report by Reuters. No slouches when it comes to depending upon the kindness of other news sources, that Reuters report quoted a study which revealed that one out of every five employers use the web to glean information on job applicants.
The Yahoo article noted that "About one third of the applicants screened online were dropped from contention after inappropriate content was found on their profile. Yikes." Yikes, indeed!
Matthew Fraser, PhD, is a Senior Research Fellow at the European business school INSEAD and co-author of the book "Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom: How Online Social Networking will Transform Your Life, Work and World."
"In the old days, it was fairly simple." observes Fraser. "You sent in your resume, they drew up a short list, you went on an interview, then they called up people on your reference list. It was based on what you presented."
That sounds quaint compared to the tactics of 2009’s brave new world. "Today, what you present to a potential employer is taken into consideration, but it’s widely known that Human Resource departments and recruiters are mining social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace and using Google to find out as much as they can about your past life, embarrassing or shameful facts, criminal convictions, outrageous behaviors, or even whether you are homosexual."
Upper photo: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg
Lower photo: Yianni Garcia
