The Perils of Facebook

Can Facebook jeopardize your career prospects?  The answer is a resounding YES.  Sites like Facebook, MySpace, LiveJournal, and Friendster are everywhere these days.  Researchers estimate that up to 90% of American college students use them!  Unfortunately, lots of these students use these sites in ways that could have dire consequences on their future careers. 

Facebook, in particular, is rapidly becoming a valuable tool for employers, who can use the site to gather information about students they’re thinking of hiring.  Searching for profiles in Facebook allows potential employers to run background checks on students, to scrutinize them prior to interviews, to evaluate their personalities, and to investigate other issues such as sexual preference and social tendencies.

Students already know that getting a Facebook account is a very easy process.  Employers have figured this out, too!  Starting in Fall 2006, Facebook opened up its accounts to all users—and what that means is that any employer who wants to learn more about you as an individual can just go on Facebook and check out your profile.  Administrators at colleges around the country, ranging from New York University to UCLA, have noticed that employers are very likely to use these techniques. 

Mary Ellen Slayer of The Washington Post recently reported that the benefits of creating online profiles—such as making communication between friends quick and easy—are often outweighed by the downside.  “Online profiles make you easy to find.  And not just your resume, which is why you have to be careful about what you post.  That four-year-old party pic of you doing a keg stand could some day cost you a dream job.”

John Palfrey, lecturer and executive director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University Law School, suggested making the information in online profiles as neutral as possible.  In the Brown University student newspaper, Palfrey recently commented, “It’s all about common sense.  You should presume that anybody from whom you want something in the future could see the profile.  That person could be an employer, graduate school board member, or a current professor.  If you put something on your profile that you wouldn’t want them to see, you’re making a huge mistake.”

Students who have posted unflattering profiles may not fully understand the implications on their job potential, and according to a recent front-page story in the New York Times, “may not know when they have been passed up for an interview or a job offer because of something a recruiter saw on the Internet.”  Melanie Dietch, the director of marketing at Facebook, cautioned that students should use of the site’s privacy settings and be careful about what they choose to post.  

Administrators at Valparaiso University are currently working diligently to determine the implications of these sites on the Valpo campus, and to educate students about their potentially detrimental effects.   So remember that your online profile could have consequences for your future long after graduation, and be very careful about what you decide to post.  Your dream job could be in jeopardy.