Like most Facebook users, I’ve managed to compile a much
larger list of online friends than people that I actually interact with on a
daily or weekly basis. The social network makes it easy to become “friends”
with people as it only takes a click of a button on both users’ parts. This can
be sparked through a mutual interest such as both people attending the same school
or being on the same basketball team, whether the two Facebook users spend time
with one another in the non-digital world or not. For me, I usually accept a
friend request if I know who the person is, even if I don’t regularly interact
with them or consider them a friend or close friend. This makes up a majority
of my Facebook friends since I definitely do not text, converse, or hang out
with 590 “friends” on a regular basis. When I need to contact someone who fits
under this category (or vice versa), it is usually not very often or for more
formal reasons such as questions about a school assignment or information about
an upcoming event. The only Facebook friends I regularly contact or who contact
me are usually friends that I see often or family members and this number probably
comes to somewhere around 40 or 50 people.
With today’s easy access to technology and the expansion of
social networks, many employers look at their possible employee’s Facebook or Twitter
accounts. If an employer was looking at my friend Mandy’s* Facebook, she would
most likely be considered eligible for hiring. Her information and statuses don’t
contain any profanity or inappropriate topics and her “likes” simply include
her favorite music artists, TV shows and movies. But pictures are the factors
that often keep employers from hiring. Luckily for Mandy, the majority of her
pictures are of her smiling with friends, playing soccer, attending prom, and going
on vacation. Her profile shows her as an active member of the community, a
social girl who spends time with family and friends, and a participator in
school activities such as the soccer team or the National Honor Society. There
are a few goofy pictures that don’t put Mandy in the most sophisticated light,
but depending on the business, these would probably be acceptable. In addition,
Mandy’s Facebook information shows that she is friend with many relatives
including her mother and grandmother. So an employer would know that Mandy is
aware of who is looking at her Facebook and so her patterns in social network
activity are not going to change. Although my friend’s Facebook uplifts her
image rather than destroys it, many young adults are not careful with what they
allow on their social networks and are ignorant of the harm it can bring them. I’ve
seen peers put pictures on Facebook with illegal substances or presenting
themselves in a way that a parent, relative, or teacher would not approve of. It is highly probable that an employer would
not want these people representing the company or tainting its reputation.
While I would hire Mandy after checking out her Facebook page, I cannot say the
same for other profiles I’ve viewed.
