The ‘Book
Happy Monday readers-Today has just been one of those days. Perhaps the winter blues are setting in, along with the lovely -10 weather that has swept over Toronto.Nonetheless I thought I would use this post to explore Facebook which, admit it or not, is one of the leading forms of communication right now. It’s hot, hot, hot! I can still recall the day, in 2004, that I entered the vortex of social networking and become an addicted member of Facebook. At the beginning it seemed like a harmless and convenient way to connect with old friends and classmates. However, as the popularity of Facebook grew as did my number of inappropriate photos and unknown friends.Last week, in typical New Year fashion, I purged my profile on Facebook. I deleted a vast number of friends, photos and maxed up my privacy settings. I keep hearing whispers that potential employers often search and scope potential employees on Facebook. While I have no idea whether this theory is true or not I do not want test it, especially not as I am about to begin searching searching for an internship and soon enough, a job.I am beginning to realize that Facebook is not solely a giant photo album but instead an important aspect of social media. My Facebook profile is no longer reflective of my free spirit undergraduate years but instead communicates my life as it should, a future public relations professional.Readers, any comments or insight? Are any of you ‘an open book on the ‘book?’Cheers,Aly 
pink eye replied:
Beautiful…just beautiful… tear.
January 22, 2008 at 3:25 am. Permalink.
Rayanne Langdon replied:
I hear you, Aly. I deleted a lot of my photos recently, but it has been hard because it seems like I had to discard a lot of memories. I made my profile ridiculously private, so I hope that’s enough for now. I’m pretty scared, though.
January 25, 2008 at 3:39 am. Permalink.
Gary Schlee replied:
Potential employees scoping you out on Facebook isn’t just a theory. Some of them do; they’ve told me as much. And, when you think about it, why wouldn’t they? Communicators doing their research is simply good practice.
So the issue is, what do you want to share with them (and everybody else) in a public forum.
January 25, 2008 at 8:21 pm. Permalink.
Karin Archer replied:
I agree with you Aly. After last weeks online PR course where Gary talked about our “online reputations” I went home and started to delete friends, pictures and some messages. I think when Facebook first came around, it was exciting to reconnect with people, but it’s also a bit creepy to be letting so many people into our private lives.
As far as employers scoping out facebook – I would do it if I was them. It’s a good way to get the truth about someone and see if they are appropriate for a certain corporate culture.
January 27, 2008 at 5:48 pm. Permalink.