Indecent exposure: Online profiles reveal private lives

Hannah Pietsch

The Signal

In the beginning, MySpace brought the world together and started the phenomenon of social networking. As tweens began to take over MySpace with clutter and glitter art, college students turned to Facebook. Originally developed exclusively for college students, today Facebook dominates the world of social networking.

While social networking fans continue to use their online profiles to connect with friends and family, they are also devising innovative ways to use Facebook as a way to job hunt. No, job seekers aren’t using Facebook to search through classifieds, but they are cleaning up their profiles to make themselves more marketable to curious employers.

Mottie Cato, human resources director for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, explained how the sheriff’s office uses Facebook as a screening tool.

“As a part of the application process, candidates fill out a questionnaire,” Cato said. “We look at their Facebook profiles to determine if they answered questions truthfully. It is all about credibility.”

When looking at an individual’s Facebook profile, Harris County Sheriff’s Office background investigators focus on pictures posted by the user. Cato explained that investigators are looking to see who an applicant is associated with and where they are spending their free time.

While using Facebook as a screening tool might be expected from law enforcement agencies, it has become a common practice throughout industries.
Katherine Justice, director of the UHCL Office of Human Resources, said that the use of social media has become a topic at conferences for human resources professionals.

“I would say there are many other industries that use Facebook, but we do not at UHCL,” Justice said. “However, we do encourage people to think about what they post. Make sure what you put out there is a good representation of you as a person.”

But Facebookers beware – it isn’t just what the user posts, but what their friends are posting. Pictures posted by someone else are what got a former employee of Poseidon Pools Ltd., in a lot of trouble.

“A former lifeguard called in sick saying he had strep throat,” said Leo Castillo, south zone director. “The next day, another lifeguard posted pictures on Facebook of them drinking the night before the other employee called in sick. Needless to say, the lifeguard who called in sick was fired.”

While the lifeguards’ pictures might have been enjoyed by their friends, the photos were not appreciated by their employers. Now that social networking users can update their Facebook friends from anywhere and about anything, the lines dividing work and home are becoming blurred.

Reflecting on the content of their posts is not a novel concept for savvy social networking users. Kristi Shipley, UHCL undergraduate business major, said she always considers what information is viewable on her Facebook profile.

“I always think about what I post because I know that an employer might look at it,” Shipley said. “I wouldn’t post any pictures that show people at a party, contain nudity or could be considered racist. I think that is just common sense.”

Stephani Brown, UHCL business administration graduate student, recalled a friend who kept her Facebook friends updated on her love life.

“A friend that I went to high school with had recently gotten married,” Brown said. “Her husband left for the war about three days after the wedding. He had left his cell phone behind, and a girl that he had done his original tour of duty with began sending him inappropriate pictures. My friend posted these pictures on Facebook and has since kept us posted on her love life.”

Some social networkers are looking for ways to bring the blurry lines separating home from work back into focus. Boris Epstein, founder and CEO of the professional search firm BINC in California, discussed solutions for the separation issue in an article for Mashable, a technology and social media news website.

In his article “HOW TO: Use Facebook for Professional Networking,” Epstein provided instructions for creating friend lists to separate personal and professional Facebook friends.

“I think that as much as the lines are becoming blurred between personal and professional, people still like to maintain individuality and have some personal space,” Epstein said. “If an employer takes the step to look at someone’s profile, they will look at everything that has been posted.”

If using a Facebook profile for both private and professional networking becomes too time consuming, social media users can create a professional profile on LinkedIn. LinkedIn was designed for professionals to connect with colleagues and search job postings.

So before Facebook users post their next party picture or an inappropriate status update, perhaps they will think about who is viewing their profile. If it’s NSFW, think B4 U post. (Translation: If it’s not safe for work, think before you post.)