Online Identity in a Networked World

When it comes to social media I don’t have much, just an Instagram, were I post pictures of things I like to do and the occasional “selfie”. However, my Instagram is private but after reading the Employers Scour Web for Details on Applicants article I saw that Deljanin assumes that employers have a way of breaching privacy settings. Also another thing that I realized when reading this article was not only do employers look for silly pictures of you on the web but they also look for eBay comments. When I googled my name a couple of picture had popped up from my Facebook days when I was about 14 or 15 years old other than that most of my blog post from open lab had popped up. What did come up when I googled my name was this app that I use to record my speed, miles ridden and  time whenever I am riding my bike either to work or school or just riding around for fun. Other than that there wasn’t anything really up there on the web about myself that I think would limit me from finding a job.

I did realize that my online identity can affect your job prospects, I avoid this though by having limited social networks and knowing what to post and what not to post. However, there are many ways in which social media and affect your job prospects in a good way for example I am an Electrical Engineering and Technology major and after I have finished my project and it worked I have posted a video showing how it works and showing the program that I wrote. Another way social media can help your job prospects in a good way is by posting pictures of your work on Tumblr or another social networking site. For example in the spring of 2014 I was interviewing my neighbor Taip who has his own business and I asked him “can social media help me find a job?” His answer to me was “yes, of course.”  One of Taip’s friend that helps him out with his construction works actually has a Tumblr site were he post jobs that he does on house and he post the steps on how to install the system or whatever he is installing. So this type of social media can be good for ones business and ones also for ones future job if they saw his work.

I don’t think its ethical for employers to “google” their job candidates, and then use those finding online in their decision about employment just because your social site is for you to connect with friends and have silly pictures up because even if you post those silly pictures the way you act with friends is not going to be the same way you are going to act with employers. However, when you start abusing social media by calling out and going to a ball game or party or even the beach that’s when I feel like its ethical for employers to look at your social media. It’s also crazy how one in five employers use social networks in hiring process and how one of their major concerns was poor communication skills which I disagree with just because I think it is okay to use “slang” when commenting on a friends picture or posting something of your own.

Cited:

One in five employers uses social networks in hiring process

Colleges Pay to Protect Students from Toxic Google Results

Employers scour Web for details on applicants