This article entitled “Facebook can ruin your life. And so can Myspace, Bebo…” talks about the monitoring of peoples online accounts. The article states that “employees and authorities are now monitoring what people imagined were private websites – and using the contents against them.” Numerous examples have been included in this article, where it becomes apparent that people have been fired or have gone to court or jail due to the content on their Facebook or Myspace accounts.
“A survey released by Viadeo said that 62 per cent of British employers now check the Facebook, MySpace or Bebo pages of some applicants, and that a quarter had rejected candidates as a result. Reasons given by employers included concerns about "excess alcohol abuse", ethics and job "disrespect". I find these statistics alarming, as I had no idea that so many candidates have been rejected because of the content on their online accounts. Facebook users, including myself, believe that their Facebook accounts are private and that they can put up and be tagged in any images they like without repercussions. This is clearly not the case, and after reading this article I am encouraged to check my Facebook, delete photographs that may be deemed inappropriate and ensure that my account represents me in a positive light.
The article suggests that “rather than looking at what information constitutes a risk, it's better to think, 'Who am I sharing this information with?' If you're not sure about the identity of a third party on the website then you have to ask yourself if you would do that in an offline context, and the answer is that you probably wouldn't."
In America, software is being put on the market that will automate the process of monitoring social networking sites. I wonder, do we even need to make our profiles private anymore if our current or future employers are able to access our pages? There is a simple answer to this; start monitoring your profiles and your careers will be safe for the long haul.
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