Friday, September 28, 2012

Facebook friends and employment


When someone looks at my Facebook, I am sure they are surprised at the amount of friends I have. I currently have around 1500 friends. I had no idea I had that many until I had to look it up for this blog post.  Before checking, I would have guessed that I had around 700 friends, which is less than half of what I actually have. This shows how I accept and send friend requests with very little consideration to whom I am accepting from and sending them to. I would say that I only keep in touch with approximately fifty people out of my 1500 friends. When I say keep in touch, I am using this term lightly. The fifty that I keep in touch with, I text or Facebook chat with at least once a month. If I am only talking to fifty out of 1500 friends it makes me realize that maybe there is no point to have that many. However, I think it important to have a Facebook and accept new friend requests now that I am attending a new school. It is easier to contact some of my classmates over Facebook. There is also a connectivity aspect to it. I may not be keeping in touch with some of my Facebook friends now, but maybe later in life I will be.
            With social media booming these days, a majority of the population has a Facebook, Twitter, or blogger account. Many people have these accounts and have personal information or photos that prevent them from being hired. I have heard that people delete their Facebook accounts before they apply for jobs in fear of their employers seeing something they do not particularly look for in employees. Examples of things that people are deleting from their accounts to avoid this include: parties, evidence of underage drinking, drugs, nudity, or any other actions that could be detrimental or misinterpreted.
            If I were to look at one my friends Facebook pages, I would most likely choose not to hire them as one of my employees. Their pages include many pictures of illegal alcohol consumption as well as use of illicit drugs. The reason I would not hire them is that these photos might give off the impression that they are irresponsible, unprofessional, or reckless. I would recommend that they immediately remove these types of pictures if they wanted to apply for any type of job. When they are posting photos or vulgar statuses, they should think about who can see their accounts before they post it. Looking at my account now I should probably think about going through all of my posts, statuses, and photos to see if there is anything that would prevent me from getting hired.
            In conclusion, social media impacts the way people interact as well as displays information to people you may not want looking at your page. Also, many people don’t realize that the amount of friends on Facebook or Twitter is unnecessary and it should only include people that you are keeping in touch with in real life. There are many pros and cons to the use of social media but people need to learn how to balance it.