Facebook privacy, social networking can make or break job opportunities

Kevin passed out. And as it happens when a drunk college student is left vulnerable and unwittingly defenseless, Kevin’s similarly intoxicated buddies took this opportunity to entertain themselves by drawing on his face.

Though the juvenile drawings were nothing out of the ordinary ““ doodles of male genitalia and embarrassing phrases ““ the photos posted online were rather incriminating. After Kevin saw the photos, his reaction was to check his Facebook privacy settings, so particular people could not access the photos.

It is only in today’s world, with the explosion of online social networking sites and the loss of privacy, that this sort of behavior has become common practice. As the class of 2010 officially enters the adult workplace, these graduates face a myriad complex Internet issues.

Kevin Kim, a fourth-year economics student, acknowledged removing party pictures and immature quotations from his Facebook. With about 500 million users on Facebook, employers have the potential to access a minefield of valuable information.

An employer’s inspection of a student’s Facebook page can potentially determine whether the student gets the job or not, said Karol Johansen, UCLA Career Center counseling manager.

“Employers have embraced the Internet as a place to research their candidates,” said Kathy Sims, director of the UCLA Career Center. “Who wouldn’t Google somebody if they were seriously thinking of bringing them onboard?”

Sims said in one case, an employer from the Silicon Valley expressed excitement about one highly recruited candidate. The company then saw he had posted on Facebook, “I have three more interviews to go, I’m just passing time with (the aforementioned company) because I think they’re just a bunch of losers.”

“They e-mailed him and said, “˜We’ve canceled your final interviews with us because we wouldn’t want you to meet with a bunch of losers,'” Sims said.

She noticed that students seem to be getting smarter about preventing this type of damaging online data, a trend confirmed by recent studies on the privacy of young adults. Some students restrict political views, inappropriate photographs and status updates for fear of appalling potential employers.

Recently, Facebook has come under fire as users have noticed drastic changes in its privacy policy. The default option is that users’ information is public, forcing people to actively seek out privacy restrictions if they wish to opt out.

Yet finding these privacy settings is easier said than done ““ a graphic by The New York Times showed Facebook offers 50 different privacy settings with more than 170 options.

While this onslaught of changes seems new to many students, this handling of private information has been present in the online culture for awhile, said Jean-François Blanchette, a professor of information studies. Search engine juggernaut Google offers a variety of services, including the social networking service Buzz, which can integrate a user’s Flickr, Twitter, Blogger, YouTube accounts and more.

These factors quietly contribute to building someone’s online identity, which can happen without a person’s knowledge.

“To me, what’s interesting these days is (people) making a big fuss about Facebook, as if Facebook has some duty to protect their privacy,” Blanchette said.

Conversely, some young adults are utilizing these services to create an online portfolio and stand out to employers.

Though Kim is working in business after graduation, he saw the value in demonstrating personality through a blog.

“In a business-related work environment, it’s all about the individual,” he said. “When you see something like a blog, you can relate to that type of person, and it gives that person an extra edge over other people (applying for the same job).”

Danny Chung, a fourth-year international development studies student, plans to go into fashion or possibly public relations after graduation. Chung operates a blog titled “the modman,” which focuses on fashion culture.

“Blogging, it doesn’t matter what someone’s background is, it just gives you that opportunity to voice yourself,” Chung said.

Though Chung said he did not create his blog with the intent of finding a job, he later saw how it could potentially be utilized professionally.

“By building my own brand, which is my blog, it shows that I can go into a company and help build their brand,” Chung said.

Chung also uses Twitter and even created a Facebook fan page, attempting to separate his informal Facebook page from his professional marketing ventures. The melding of personal and professional in online networking sites is the crux of the problem for many users.

Users’ perception of these sites as a personal playground between friends illustrates how some people are unaware of the implications of data put online.

“That’s the dilemma: It serves as a way of presenting yourself to the world, but you’re also advertising whatever it is you do online,” Blanchette said.