Online Identity

            Indecent exposure is now possible in a whole new set of ways, thanks to social media websites.  We’re all guilty of it; posting pictures onto social media sites that may or may not upset the folks at home and now, in the office.  Employers have started using social media to their advantage and are digging up the cyber-pasts of the people they may choose to hire.

            I’m not really sure what to think when this article talks about Social Intelligence Corp.’s “thumbs-up” to snoop through people’s past seven years of Facebook posts.  I didn’t even know it was possible to retrieve Facebook info. from that far back and where did the number seven come from??  I made my friend a birthday card once and printed and cut out probably three years of “wall-to-wall” posts, but that took forever!

            Either way, I’ll ultimately agree with this article and employer’s choice to cyber background check.  As good ole’ Bob Dylan once said, “the times they are a-changin,” and we must change with them, if you want to.

            Even with social media, it is still possible to live the way you want to.  One of my friends back home in Indiana was recently going to join the Army.  He then realized that that meant the government owning all information pertaining to him, so he changed his mind.  There are those, however, who are okay with that thought and they (obviously) are the ones whom enlist.

            Same goes for applying for a job.  Obviously, if you apply at Chili’s, they will most likely not go stalking the past seven years of your life via pictures.  But, if you go and apply at the Wall Street Journal, chances are that they might.  It’s all very, and I’ll say it once again, obvious.  The ones who may not understand this, in my opinion, would be the older generation and the elderly.  But in their case, it doesn’t much matter.  Many elderly folks (no offense!) don’t even know how to turn on a computer, let alone know how to create a Facebook page and then upload their drunken pictures from the night before… And many baby-boomers don’t have seven years worth of “dirt” on Facebook to even dig up.

            No, this article is more directed towards my generation, the next generation, and we have all grown up knowing all of this.  We’re on our computers more than we’re in front of the television and are texting our conversations, totally opposed to talking on the telephone.  It’s practical though and things will probably only get more complex.  Problem is, technology advances wayyyyy faster than the government’s counter-call to legally change any of it, but that’s their problem.

            It’s no biggie to me; keep the social media site a-comin’!


Link:
http://www.historiccity.com/2011/staugustine/news/florida/hiring-decisions-social-media-16225