(05-28-2015 09:32 AM)NCeagle Wrote:  Let's play out a hypothetical scenario, because I am curious how serious you take facebook pictures. On my facebook page, there are pictures of a beer pong table I made, as well as pictures of me playing on said table.

What would be your take on that?

you didn't ask me, but I'll answer...

Do you appear 'out of control' in any of those pictures? Are you passed out or vomiting or is there a stumbling video? Does it seem to be one or two events, or is there an indication that this is an every few day affair (multiple different clothes etc)? Are there indications of potentially problematic issues for my company? That's pretty broad, but as an example... if you used to work for Joe's company and there's a video of you stumbling drunk wearing your work shirt, that could be a problem for me. Even if there's just a selfie of you with 'bad language' wearing your work shirt, it could be a problem.

The 'take' is that you engage in bar games... enough so that you built your own table... which in and of itself is not that big a deal... but it might cause me to look more closely for patterns/risks.

seems totally reasonable.

As I said before, my main issue with the topic is the poster who said they would ask for a password, or demand a candidate make their profile public.

(05-28-2015 09:16 AM)NCeagle Wrote:  

(05-28-2015 09:12 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(05-28-2015 09:10 AM)NCeagle Wrote:  i have no problem with doing a google search and seeing what comes up.

But saying that you expect someone to hand over a password to a private page, or not interviewing a candidate because they don't have a facebook page is absurd.

There is a difference between telling somebody to hand over a password and telling them to unlock their profile. The two are not the same thing.

As for the whole not having a Facebook page, I'd take that as a strong positive for a candidate.

isn't that basically the same? They have something set up as private, and you are telling them to make it public. If they have gone through the safe guards to make the social media not accessible to anyone other than who they want, and you can't find anything out about them other than what past employers say, isn't it safe to say that their personal life doesn't affect their work life?

I don't think anyone should ask for a password. It's my understanding that a former employer can't talk negatively about a former employee to a prospective employer. Only thing allowed is to verify employment. Now, if a former employer isn't allowed to spill the beans, why in the hell would a employee be expected to do the same?

(05-28-2015 05:49 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(05-27-2015 08:52 PM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  

(05-27-2015 11:59 AM)TheEagleWay Wrote:  

(05-27-2015 11:29 AM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  I would not say it is anything bad...but...if you are a person that has a gazillion friends and a super complex FB profile with tons of pics?...it tells a prospective employer something. You spend way too much time on FB. You might want to scale it back a shade before job hunting. Also...leave political and uber religious stuff off your FB profile. The more vanilla your stuff is...the better. It is just not a good idea to have your entire life at the fingertips of a prospective employer. You just never know about these HR folks and how they view things. Keeping it simple is probably a good idea.

Keep the profile private. "Problem" solved.

And if they want to see my profile, I'll just pass on the job. Do I have anything to hide? Nope, on principle I won't work for anyone that wants to know my personal life.

I think that is a reasonable way to deal with this. You would however be amazed at how many applications I have gone through in which the applicant had no clue as to doing that. Most often?...The FB posts are no big deal..but..occasionally I run across some pretty fcked up schit that makes me shake my head. BTW...I also look at who the applicants friends are. There is added info there to be uncovered if you look.

Meh... I look at who is on the wall, but I don't go into friend lists. We all have unsavory people from high school and childhood. If someone has 500 Facebook friends, they only interact with about 20 in real life on a regular basis. Those 20 are the ones commenting and posting on the wall.

Yes...That is what I do. I also just look at who they are communicating with locally that I know...not the entire list. If they are from my town?...I most likely know them.

The thinking behind my asking the question of considering interviewing/hiring someone who does not have a FB profile (or any other social media) is to what extent are these private accounts looked at like a public utility in society today?

As as far as I am aware, these sites are all run by private, and even more interestingly*, for-profit companies and/or individuals. They are certainly not government entities, though I highly suspect that they coordinate/interact/are "guided" by some pretty nefarious government agencies, probably to a similar extent that the largest OS and internet service providers (I'd guess Microsoft, Apple, Google, among many others) are "encouraged" to cooperate with high-up government agency "officials and their "security" and "information-gathering" agendas."

I use the quotations to point out that this appears all quite murky to me, certainly along the lines of infringement of privacy rights, yet the one thing they all have in common as far as I know is there is no absolute "requirement" to sign up and use them. They are not equivalent to having a driver's license, or are they?

Personally, I have researched and followed the FB and related social media account sites over the years. I see that most all of the owners/operators are highly distrustful and questionably unethical in their handling of what many consider to be their own personal and private information, but which is actually anything but.

Much the same way I view any "smart" phone as in actuality a "slave" phone, I also view social media sites as not even close to worth the risks/loss of liberty/freedoms for such usage.

When working for a company that needs to use these accounts for the job task at hand, I simply ask the company to set up a company-oriented generic accounts for my use on the social platforms deemed necessary for any company business, and proceed from there. Although it has raised a few eyebrows as to convenience and logistics, I have not had a problem with showing the company managers that any requirement to use a private utility containing my personal information beyond that necessary to do the job is an infringement on individual liberty, currently still protected under the Constitution. I have not had a problem conducting business successfully in this way, in fact, I'd argue it's made that conduct much more efficient as the personal distractions are non-existent for me, and business matters are the sole focus of those activities and interactions.

The plain old phone, unencumbered with additional "features" is still the most effective tool for communication that balances individual privacy and corporate and/or public need, in my opinion. Coupled with a company email account used strictly for generic business purposes, one has all the linkage needed to function properly in today's connected world. Although I do wonder how much longer those freedoms will last in this country with the way things are going.


* For those on here who are the big-corporate bashing, generally anti-for-profit and/or private business, pro-government crowd, it is always fascinating to see the extent and zeal with with they embrace these private, for-profit social media companies and applications. Makes me question their whole stance as insincere, or at least selectively judgmental, certainly not well thought out or executed in practice.

There is nothing wrong with having a FB page. One can actually use it as a positive if they are careful about what is on their page. Often times I find out good things about a job candidate...civic organizations, volunteer work, and hobbies for instance. I also notice friends they communicate with. If their friends are well respected in the community, it tells me something about the candidate. FB is not all bad for you when job hunting. Just use some common sense.