TALKING TO THE UAB SOCIAL MEDIA CLASS
Last week, I lectured at the UAB's Social Media class that is part of the School of Business on how social media impacts the workplace. Having two sons in college, who use social media on a regular basis, this topic is near and dear to me. We talked about how HR managers are using online searches to check on potential and existing employees, and that improper postings may prevent one from being hired, or get an existing employee fired. We discussed the fact that when you begin working at a new job, it is likely that at least one of your new co-employees will investigate you online to learn more about you. So, the question becomes what is inappropriate? The answer is not clear, since it depends on who is doing the hiring and firing. I emphasized the use of common sense, if there is a picture, joke or comment that you would not show/tell your mother, it should not be posted on line. These may include pictures in various states of undress, skimpy clothes, drinking, using drugs (remember Michael Phelps?), carrying firearms, racial/sexual jokes/comments, or criticizing current or past employers or supervisors. I advised the class that there is nothing wrong with keeping a personal album of photographs from their college days, but if there is anything that is even close to being questionable, it should not be posted online. This includes pictures that may be posted on their friend's sites, since the links can be easily traced.
Yesterday, Stephanie Goldberg wrote an article for CNN.com entitled "Young job-seekers hiding their Facebook pages". Ms. Goldberg's article notes that 70%of recruiters and hiring managers have accessed the Internet and rejected candidates based on what they found online. She refers to a Microsoft survey that reveals that 79% of hiring managers use the Internet to better assess applicants. One of the questions asked last week in class was about the possibility of setting up 2 different Facebook pages: one for professional purposes, and one for "fun" under a different name. I advised the student that that was not a good idea, since there may be links or other ways of finding both sites. Ms. Goldberg also answered this question when she noted a student who did just this changed his alias after 2 weeks "when he realized Facebook users also can be searched by e-mail address, school and network...".
Ms. Goldberg quotes several students who have changed their privacy settings to restrict access to their Facebook pages to only their "friends". She even referred to a career counselor at Penn State who recommends "that students with potentially incriminating photos or posts change their name on social networking sites." One of the students last week at UAB asked a similar question: what if i restrict access to my photographs? My response to that question was what if the HR person interviewing you asks you during the interview to access your Facebook page? If you say no, at least in Alabama, which is an employee at will state, you may not be hired. If you say yes, and permit access, and there is inappropriate material, you may not be hired. So, it boils down to why take the chance.
Practice pointer. Any employee or perspective employee needs to seriously consider what information is available about him/her on the Internet: if it is inappropriate, it may have an adverse impact on your employment. This is true even if access is restricted to your own social networking sites or you use a alias: there are ways gain access, both legally and illegally. The bottom line is to use common sense: if you would not want your mother so see the picture or hear the joke, don't put it on the Internet.
