What’s wrong with FACEBOOK?

I must admit, I have a Facebook page and over 225 ‘friends’ but mostly, I’m a Facebook voyeur. I really don’t think my daily routine is amazing enough for the whole world to know.

I enjoy a lot of the content I come across on Facebook. Last week there was a YouTube video of a concert that Kenny Loggins did in 1991 singing the song “Celebrate Me Home”. I love that song and it brought back some great memories. Through Facebook I’ve been in contact with friends from grammar school, high school and college who I haven’t spoken with in years.

There was a great time lapse video on Facebook showing the major snowstorm that just hit the northeast. DeSean Jackson’s punt return with no time left to put the Philadelphia Eagles ahead of the New York Giants was priceless. I’m a fan (or friend) of restaurants that send me coupons for discounts, and I have a friend who posts jokes almost every day that put me in stitches.

So what’s wrong with FACEBOOK????

Have you been sending out resume after resume and not getting any response? Have you had an initial phone interview and then no contact after that?  Well, Facebook might have something to do with that. Hiring Managers are regularly attending seminars conducted by Social Media Gurus who are expert in Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Four Square and others, to learn how to take advantage of informal information available on the net about YOU!!!

So there is a picture of you, out there, doing something foolish while you were out partying. Or maybe your last tweet was complaining about how terrible your college football team played (but you were using very colorful language). Maybe you posted a slightly off color video, or you are showing off your latest tattoo.

Prospective employers can and do try to find out as much as they can about you before bringing you to an in-person interview. It is illegal for employers to discriminate because of sex, religion, race, sexual orientation or physical handicap, but if this information is readily available on the net, a decision can be made without you even being aware.

I know of people who have been let go from their positions because of information gleaned off the net, or from someone’s cell phone. Brett Favre just got a fine ($50,000) for sexting a female employee of the Jets organization.

Recently, the partners of Gecko Hospitality were out for dinner at a national chain restaurant. We met a corporate recruiter there from another company. As pictures were being taken, he was quick to make sure his drink was behind him, and never in the frame of the picture.

So to be safe, be careful of the content you decide to make public. Could your posting be misconstrued? If you were an employer and you saw a similar post, would it affect the way you think about the person posting it. Be aware not only of pictures you post, but of pictures your friends might have tagged of you. Keep your settings private, only allow friends who you know to see your information, pictures, likes and dislikes.

Big Brother isn’t here yet, but he isn’t that far away.