Facebook: The New Background Check

A few months ago I deleted my Facebook in fear of prospective employers accessing it to judge my lifestyle and personality. My decision was influenced by a study that indicated 60-70% of employers in the United States use Facebook as a means of background checks. Nearly a month later I realized deactivating my Facebook made it seem like I was a hermit so I brought it back to increase my social capital. I deleted many pictures of me chugging steins of beer and any photos that portrayed me in a negative light. The reason I bring up this story is because a couple of weeks ago a strange girl added my roommate on Facebook. He had no idea who she was until he read her work experience. Apparently she was a coordinator in a campus organization he had interviewed for a couple of days earlier. I quickly informed him that she may be checking the content of his profile and in a matter of seconds he began fixing his privacy settings. People should take advantage of their privacy settings on Facebook and even adjust their settings so they won’t be able to be found by Facebook search. Everyday I see people posting derogatory statements and very questionable subject matter without knowing employers may be using their Facebook pages to judge them. If it’s easy for you to avoid posting “faux pas” then there’s no need to adjust anything on Facebook. In my opinion, the best thing to do is to keep Facebook as a means of communicating and keeping in touch with friends and family. All other information can be put on blogs like Tumblr. We live in the 21st century and we should be able to express ourselves, but some people such as employers measure our responsibility, reliability, and intelligence in terms of what we post. I guess if we want to work in the professional atmosphere every aspect of our lives has to appear to be professional, which can seem nonsensical. After all, we have had a long history of presidents known for extra-marital affairs and drug/alcohol abuse.