I suppose it's fairly well known by now that a lot of employers are checking out job applicants online to see what type of material they may have posted, blogs they may be maintaining, or political candidates they may be supporting. So I am sure that there have been many a qualified candidate that have been rejected because of a provocative profile picture or an inebriated entry on their blog. I can't really comment on whether this practice is right or wrong, but it does seem to be happening more and more these days. This brings up the topic of online privacy and trust. One could argue that 'online privacy' is somewhat of a contradiction in terms, but it is nonetheless a growing concern given the wildly popular social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Even with customizable privacy settings, there is still room for the photo of that frathouse frolic to become public. Just make sure you have your mom blocked from seeing your profile!
In their article, "Privacy, Trust, and Disclosure Online," Carina B. Paine Schofield and Adam N. Joinson distinguish between actual privacy and perceived privacy. "For example, a person's perceived privacy may be high when they have control over disclosing their personal information to an online store. However, their actual privacy may be low due to the unobtrusive (automatic) collection of their online behavior" (p. 15). The authors go on to make the point out the fact that most people attach a high level of importance to privacy, even though there may not be a standard definition of the concept. Still, though, most of us tend to get careless with this issue as it is easy to take it for granted. Many people feel comfortable shopping online and giving out personal information (including credit card numbers) because most sites have a padlock logo near the bottom or at the top of the screen ensuring that all information is secure. This is a privacy measure that most people (including myself) take for granted by assuming it is legit.
But personal information security issues do not stop with online shopping. Since sites like Facebook have had very public disputes over their privacy policies, it really makes one wonder how much of our personal information is actually within our control. Personal information such as credit card and social security numbers are big targets online, but this growing trend of companies lurking in the proverbial shadows, ready to find the slightest bit of incriminating evidence is a genuine threat to the millions of folks currently out of work, desperately trying to find employment. Even though they may be the most qualified candidate, one errant beer bong photo could take you out of the running for that job. (And just for the record, I am NOT referring to myself in this example!) And even if your privacy settings are secure or you have deleted embarassing posts or pics, they are never actually deleted, thanks to the cavernous morass that somehow keeps a record of everything.
In the Albrechtslund article "Online Social Networking as Participatory Surveillance," a correlation between actual space and cyberspace is made with regard to the fact that information online is in effect floating in a sort of space, which is perhaps why data never seems to completely go away. It is interesting how words like "desktop" and "windows" are used as analagous to their internet counterparts.
Neil,
ReplyDeleteNice post. I found these readings particularly interesting because I too take my security for granted (or, rather, don't even really consider it).
I am responsible with the content I post online (Facebook, blog, or otherwise) as I know that can come back to bite me in the future. I do not, however, go further than looking for the little padlock on a site where I'm submitting personal/financial information. I wonder where the disconnect is? Why do I care what pictures I post online but not even consider who may have access to my personal and financial information? Since when has personal image / external perceptions become more important?
Neil, Firt off, great title! You raise a lot of good points. I like how you bring up people losing or not getting jobs because of questionable postings on facebook, or other similar sites. I think this area is a very gray one. One the one hand these are personal pages that employers should disregard as the private lives of their employees, or potential employees. However, I think for some jobs it's a different story. Primary and secondary teachers, for example, are role models that kids look up to and I think they have a responsibilty to present themselves in all public communications appropriately.
ReplyDeleteNeil,
ReplyDeleteYou said, "Even though they may be the most qualified candidate, one errant beer bong photo could take you out of the running for that job."
To me, I feel that if a company did not hire me due to one errant beer bong photo, I probably would not want to work for them. I also feel at some point their will need to be some sort of legislation that prevents employers from using items found on a social network from being held against you.
Recently the National Labor Relations board has their say on this issue when they filed a complaint in favor of an employee who had been fired for a facebook status update that criticized her employer.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/business/09facebook.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
You wrote, "It really makes one wonder how much of our personal information is actually within our control." I would say, "None." My friend does not have a Facebook and does very little online, and yet when I was looking for her street address, I found alot of other info about her that I know she never put online.
ReplyDelete