Employers are looking at the Facebook, MySpace, and blogs of prospective employees, even internship applicants, in order to make hiring decisions. Is this legal? Ethical?
There is not a lot of case law yet regarding social media. Many situations simply have not been tested in court, so there is little in the way of guidance at present. But we do know a few things.
Can an employer legally decide not to hire you based on a review of the contents your Facebook or MySpace page? The truth is, yes they can, as long as employers do not violate federal or state discrimination laws in using social networking sites in making hiring decisions. For example, an employer cannot legally screen out applicants based on race or ethnicity.
Is it an invasion of privacy for an employer to gain access to your profile or photos? What is posted on the Internet has a lower “expectation of privacy” than, say, a private home telephone conversation. Once it is posted on Facebook or MySpace or your blog, the information is available to the public. Therefore, viewing it does not constitute an invasion of privacy.
Facebook is designed to limit the availability of your profile to your friends and only those in your other networks via the privacy settings. If you use the privacy features and believe that some employers got into your information unauthorized, then you might have a case.
However, use of Facebook by potential employers is not addressed the Terms of Use for Facebook. The Terms of Use does say that its use is restricted to personal and non-commercial uses. “Non-commercial” use means posting information for personal gain, like ads, which is prohibited. However, it does not mean an employer cannot access your information for commercial purposes, like research to make a hiring decision.
What about using social networking sites after you are hired? It is important to remember that when you go to work, you often have to sign an agreement that governs the use of company computer equipment that waives your right to privacy. Such agreements usually state that use will be monitored.
The message is clear: on the job using company equipment, simply do not post things that are potentially embarrassing or damaging to your career.
What about right now, while you are a student? Make your Facebook or MySpace pages and your blog more professional in tone and content and more career oriented. Employers may use social networking sites to look for potential candidates who have specific qualifications, education, experience, or interests. Redesign your Facebook and MySpace pages and your blog into marketing tools.
I have been struggling with this issue for quite some time now in an inner debate that is beginning to make me crazy – a question of whether or not I should delete my Facebook account.
I am graduating in three months, currently in my third internship and seeking a job. Over the past three years, I have noticed a severe decrease in the personal information I have allowed to appear on my account, mainly because I’ve begun to realize that professors and potential employers could see most of it as well. Most of the pictures from my birthdays have been deleted, along with all of sophomore year’s Spring Break and a good chunk of the parties my friends an I have held. Just because we had fun doesn’t mean we had to let the world know.
Les, while your advice is solid – to turn our social networking pages into marketing tools, I fear many of my peers are just not ready to commit to completely changing the face of their social networking tools. I offer up this advice as an alternate for those who just can’t let go (or can’t decide like me)- delete anything you wouldn’t want your parents to see. Take down what you wouldn’t really want anyone but your friends to see. If it would be uncomfortable for your pictures and words to be plastered all over campus on trees and buildings, quash that possibility by removing it from Facebook (or MySpace).
What I fear is that Les has hit the nail on the head – not only does posting too much on Facebook have the potential to embarrass us, it could prevent us from getting a job! Since the job market is rough anyway, let’s focus on something we CAN control. Edit your pages, people!
Les-
First time poster but long time reader of your blog. This topic seems to generate a lot of interest nowadays in the age of social networking as a means of informal communication. This topic is so interesting that I am actually doing my research project for MCOM 490 on it.
Let’s say for example a student who is concerned about their potential image on a social network goes ahead and deletes or blocks their personal information from the outside world. Now we know that is not the end of it because once you enter information into the Cyber Space it does not disappear completely (Google never forgets)! If an employer is really desperate to find out information even after you have deleted it, the challenge will be harder but not impossible.
What if you asked students what they thought about their image on social networks to potential employers? Would it stop them from posting provocative photos and incriminating text? Or would they say they did not care. Who knows… I will find out soon enough as I will research and analyze this situation.
Where does the potential employer draw the line on how far they will go into researching your past (or present)? I see what these employers are doing as an interview before the interview, if that makes sense. It’s like the process of getting an interview in the first place. Person sends in cover letter and resume, employer reads cover letter, if intrigued, they will move on to the resume and so forth. This is essentially the same process, but with a social network acting as the “cover letter” with a lot more intimate detail. They will go online to look up your name on social networks and read what you have put in your profile. A perspective job applicant now has the employer reading about his/her personal life, which answer questions that employer would never ask in a face to face interview. It is this informal comfortable form of “safety from your own home” feeling that the employers gets the luxury of having. Would an employer ever ask for your sexual orientation in a face to face interview? What type of music you listen to? Are you in a relationship, or if you like to sleep around? These are all perfect examples of information available to the potential employer that should have NO bearing on the applicants potential career with an organization.
In an age where public information access on the internet is at a premium, we tend to forget that we have done this to ourselves. We CAN control the amount of information that we enter into Cyber Space into the future, but the past is never lost.
Angie, I am really happy you wrote this. I have been thinking most of last night about whether or not it is realistic to expect a student to convert his or her social networking site to a more career-oriented page. I think employers should understand that college students are college students now. They like to have fun, so deal with it. How many of the employers who review social media sites are non-drinkers, non-partiers, non-playful types? Few I believe.
But I believe a student can make subtle changes that might help to position him or her for employment, such as emphasizing membership in PRSSA, SGA, or leadership positions in any student organization, internships, work experience, academic awards, community service, etc.
I know, I know…I am advocating the geeking out of someone’s Facebook page. Perhaps. You said it best, Angie — you are graduating in three months, so now is the time to make this transition.
On my Facebook page, I try to practice what I preach. My page contains quite a lot of information about me, my family, what I believe in, how I spend my time, etc. But I try to portray and emphasize my professional side as well. I am not trying to be super cool, but to creatively and professionally participate in this aspect of the social media revolution.
Angie, you are so right — edit your pages, people.
Evan, my dear friend, welcome to More With Les. From the depth and quality of your thought in this comment, please visit and comment often.
I was a Human Resources Director for a large corporation for a few years, and what you say in your comment is right on target about the interview before the interview. Employment law is quite specific about what you can and cannot ask in job interviews. But your point is brilliant — what an employer cannot legally ask can be given away by what we choose to post in our social networking sites.
You are correct about certain things having no effect on an applicant’s ability to perform a job, but some devious and bigotted employers could screen out certain individuals by what they uncover in surfing social networking sites. That is discrimination, but terribly hard to prove.
Evan, thanks again for an enlightening and instructive comment.
Les,
This is a topic that concerns all students concerned about their professional reputations. A couple of years ago, I completely deleted my MySpace and Facebook accounts, thinking this would help me preserve my professional integrity. In the last year, however, social media has overtaken our industry, and I find it more beneficial to be a part of these social networks, but in a tasteful, productive manner.
For example, my MySpace is pretty bare and I monitor all comments so my friends can’t post tasteless items. No loud, obnoxious song plays when people enter my site. Instead, I use MySpace to show potential employers that I have interests outside of PR, that I’ve attended leadership conferences, and that I have a social life. When done in good taste, these sites can show employers aspects of your personality that you can fit on a resume.
I do wonder about the legal and ethical implications surrounding personal privacy, and it will be interesting to see how things change in the next few years regarding this issue.
Take care!
Meg,
Thanks for this. You make excellent points. I particularly like how you use MySpace. I think you have the right idea.
The world should see your excellent digital portfolio/resume. You did a very professional job in creating those tools to help market you to potential employers. I have no doubts that you will be wildly successful in your job search and career.
Les
Hey Uncle Lester!
This topic has come up many, many times in my MCOM classes. A lot of students now report that part of their internships has become using their own facebook accounts to check out potential employee’s facebook pages. In all honesty, I think this is completely fine. I think it’s a matter of common sense. If your doing something thats probably not the most respectable thing in the world, then don’t post it for the world to see.
I understand the point you made about many employers being party-goers themselves, but at the same time, when they go out drinking I’m sure they don’t send out press releases to local papers announcing to the whole world that they were drunk. At the same time, if a college student goes out and parties it up, then they should have the common sense to not post it all over the place for the entire world to see.
I don’t think employers are necessarily looking for your facebook to be professional or business-oriented. I think that many actually appreciate seeing the colorful backgrounds of many students. It may even give them something to talk about or some common ground to begin with. What i do think that an employer, however, is looking for, is to get a sense of your judgment, or your lack there of. They wanna know that the person that they are hiring has the common sense not to air their dirty laundry on the internet for everyone to see. Thats a quality that, especially as a PR student, is invaluable. We are students of communication, and we need to realize that EVERYTHING we do, intentional or unintentional, sends someone a message. This includes everything on facebook and myspace. Everything we do sends a message, and we need to be aware of that.
Essentially it comes to this: If you wouldn’t tell it to your grandmother, and if you wouldn’t show it to your grandmother, then keep it off the social network 🙂
Daniel, you are wise beyond your years.
I especially love your example of employers not issuing news releases when they party it up, yet students post stuff on their social networking sites when they do. Excellent point.
You are correct, Sir: you can never not communicate.
Go # 11!
I don’t have much to say, but if there is anything I’ve learned when it comes to your information on the Internet, the lesson is: Google yourself! (I know Google hates when it’s name is used as a verb, but anywho…) Google your name and make sure that you or your friends haven’t made you an Internet star. On sites such as MySpace, friends may write on your wall and refer to you by your full name – just because they can; however, what people DO NOT know is that Google puts those comments on their search engine and whatever the comment says is shown in the search cache. Even if your MySpace profile is private, it is not private from Google’s search cache. I learned this after a Google search on myself, and found that an old conversation a friend put on my PRIVATE MySpace wall showed up. Though the comment was in good taste, this minor situation reminded me that there is no such thing as privacy on the Internet. Great topic….hope all is well!
[…] I just had to share this link from the More with Les blog. He delves into “The legal and ethical issues when employers check applicants’ social and networking sit… […]
I have talked with several people who have chosen not to hire potential employees because of applicants’ Facebook or MySpace pages. I have even heard stories of companies breaking past the security settings on these sites. Your advice to students is excellent.
Tiffany (& others),
Wow, breaching security settings to check out applicants’ personal pages? That tells me something about the ethical standards of a company (or at least the hiring manager)- one that I would probably prefer not to be associated with myself.
In the expanding pond of qualified applicants (or at least what appears to be), I can certainly understand gathering as much information as possible to make an informed hiring decision. However, when it comes to making that decision based on personal actions and affiliations outside of the work environment, I think that becomes pretty fishy.
Personally, I don’t add new applications to my Facebook page, don’t consider myself a partier, and have no questionable photos of myself online – but I am a deeply spiritual person, which is prominently displayed on my Facebook and MySpace pages. Should I suppress my beliefs because a potential employer may completely disagree and choose not to hire me for whatever related reason?
I’m thinking that probably touches the discrimination line – but like Les said, it is terribly difficult to prove. Thank you so much for addressing this topic, Les, and I added it to my blog because I think it’s important all students think about this.
~Cheryl
http://rawrelations.wordpress.com/
Cheryl:
You make a good point about Facebook applications. Perhaps the biggest risk to your privacy is from applications that are developed by people who are not part of Facebook. Facebook has a disclaimer that says basically that you use these applications at your own risk, thereby assuming no liability.
Here’s another point to ponder: a friend of mine in Slovenia recently notified her Facebook friends that she was deactivating her account. What happens to her data? Facebook keeps the profile data. But it is anyone’s guess for how long.
Les
Les,
Great post and a topic that came up in conversation at work today. And I’ve used the occasion of your post here to help me with my first blog post of my own (http://michaelclendenin.blogspot.com/). I think your students here show great forethought and wisdom; if only all college students and recent grads had the same sense. In my post, I also point out, in agreement with Daniel above, that most recruiters and potential employers who choose not to hire or even interview a candidate after viewing such material, are not likely devious or bigotted, but rather operating on natural reactions and the resultant first impressions of candidates they “meet” through these posts.
So maybe it sucks that they don’t give you the benefit of the doubt that while you were stupid drunk on Spring Break, you are an otherwise responsible and productive individual. The fact is that when they have a stack of candidates to choose from just in setting up initial interviews, let alone in hiring, that view of you is part of their consideration whether they want it to be or not. Want to share those memories (or non-memories, as the case may be) with friends? Do it in some other less public fashion.
And, as also noted above, don’t think you’re safe because you can delete anytime you feel you need to. There are easy ways to look back into time, that are completely legal. Check out the Wayback Machine (http://www.archive.org/index.php). Plug in a website address, hit “Take Me Back” and pick a date you want to look at. It’s all there, unless a graphic or image has been removed from a server. But most text will all still be there. So take care not just with your images and videos, but with the opinions you state.
Finally, I’m ashamed to say I’ve been away a while from the blog, but happy to be back and catching up again.
michael clendenin
Hmm, a conundrum indeed. WIth social networking, it seems that the division between our professional and personal lives is blurred even more, for better or worse. On one hand, I WANT potential employers to look at my Facebook profile and say “hey, this seems like a nice girl, fun personality, sense of humor, not a homebody but clearly responsible.” I like to think it adds dimension to my character outside of what a one or two page resume can say.
On the other hand, I’d hate to think that because of a misinterpretation of a photo or comment, or my affiliation wth a particular group or person, a potential employer would turn me away. Not fair. I would say it’s up to employers to be responsible and judge candidates on the relevant details and ignore the rest, but I recognize that we’re human and eliminating all biases is impossible.
So I keep my Facebook a representation of myself for both professional and social purposes. Fortunately, because I don’t want social acquaintances to think poorly of me anymore than future employers, I’ve posted only material that I feel comfortable sharing with a public audience.
In summary (sorry this comment is so looong) I think it’s possible to maintain a social networking profile that respects not only the hiring practices of employers but also ourselves as unique, fun people with a bona-fide social life.
I saw an interesting development this week that should be considered in a discussion about blogs. It is how Cisco Systems has reacted to one of its employees personal blogs. Cisco is saying that if you comment about any aspect of company business or any policy issue where you have responsibility, you must clearly identify yourself as a Cisco employee and write a disclaimer that your views are your own and not those of Cisco. Dell Computers has a similar policy but they do not seem to request the disclaimer. I see this type of policy as sensible in some aspects. I think you should identify yourself as a company employee whenever you speak on an issue that you personally deal with, in a company. It is a sticky situation because companies should not be in the business of curbing a person’s freedom of speech. I especially feel this way when a person’s work is not involved with a particular issue. However, I do understand the company point of view when damage occurs from an employee’s comments. All of us should realize companies look at what employees say online. I don’t like this, but I do understand the reasons why. Clearcut policies, like those written by Dell Computers are very helpful to employees and I hope more companies articulate these and make them well known to employees. For more information, see the article discussing this issue at: http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9903070-7.html?tag=bl
Garry, thank you for your comment. I am working on a blogging policy for an entity right now. What you say here is most instructive. I, too, think this merits a discussion all its own. More later on this.
Hey Uncle Lester!
I am so excited to see a post about this topic. I have read a lot about the issues with Facebook and Myspace and I definitely have a lot of thoughts.
As an orientation leader, I spend a week in the summer training to welcome to new freshmen to Towson. On the day that the freshmen check in, they receive an article. The topic of this article: Facebook. This article is about the dangers of facebook and how what you post is visible to all, including future employers. The freshmen are required to read this article and participate in a discussion about it. This article has been passed out at the last three orientations and has generated great responses each time. Every year there are a handful of students who claim “I have privacy settings so it doesn’t matter that I have pictures with beer.” Oh how wrong these students are! I try to explain to my freshmen that anything you put on the internet is public information and can never completely be removed. By the end of the discussion I have usually convinced at least half of the group to clean up their pages and to be careful of what they post in the future. There will always be students who are convinced that their pages are private…they will certainly learn their lesson come their first internship interview!
Every year at orientation I lead a discussion on this topic. At the end of last semester I had to take my own advice. I ran in the SGA election and had to clean up my Facebook page. Nothing on my page has ever been outrageous but I did notice pictures from parties that had alcohol in the background. I have since removed all pictures from my page that “I wouldn’t want my grandmother to see.” This turned out to be a very good idea on my part. Over the summer I interviewed for internships and was employed at a company in Philadelphia. One of the comments my employer made to me was about how clean and professional my Facebook was for someone my age. I was shocked at first because she was not my “friend” but it just proved that the privacy settings do not mean much. I still have pictures of me and my friends having fun and doing silly things, but they are far from over-the-top. I am proud of the comment that I received from my employer and now use this story in my discussions with freshmen.
I am happy that you blogged about this because I feel that it is one of the biggest issues facing young professionals today. Soon I will be leaving school and entering the workforce and I would hate to miss a job opportunity because of something on my Facebook page. I hope more people read this post and do some more research so that they do not miss opportunities as well.
Here is a different blog that you might want to look at. i think they may have plagiarized your post.
http://www.bpovoice.com/profiles/blogs/1183480:BlogPost:9251
just wanted to give you the heads up. great post by the way.
[…] Legal and ethical issues when employers check applicants’ social networking sites February 2008 19 comments 3 […]
Les….I feel that employers already background check and drug test employees before hiring them…if you have never been in trouble and you can pass a drug test than what right does an employer have to go against this “great” countries first amendment and take away my freedom of speech and expression through a social network…An employer basically has the right to look at just your picture not like the way you look and look past your qualifications for a position within their company not alone read your personal habits, likes and dislikes. We all as Americans have the right to act however we want to act outside of a professional environment at the end of the day are you qualified for the position and how do you act while you are there? This is really starting to get to me too because I have run into a present problem with my 6 year long employer as to where I was questioned as to what I did with my weekend due to the fact that I was sick days prior. I feel violated I feel like I am being chained like Im in a third world country this is no longer the land of the free!!!!!!!!! Thank you for posting this Les…you might see me marching to capital hill in protest soon!
Or just put ur fb account under an alias.
[…] decisions. For example, an employer cannot legally screen out applicants based on race or ethnicity.” Read Les Potter’s article on Legal and Ethical issues about employers checking out social […]
[…] https://lespotter001.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/legal-and-ethical-issues-with-employers-checking-social… […]
The notion of taking social networking and mutating it into a tool for personal marketing almost completely destroys the most common use and function among many users of Facebook and is simply not an option. The fact that employers are willing to circumvent your privacy settings is one that should be in breach of ethics, for the same reason that going through my credit history without prior consent is a breach of ethics. Were an employer to read my Facebook without my permission, one that I have designed to carefully express my views and beliefs to my friends and an audience that shares common interests with me, I would feel invaded upon, as if I had held a private meeting among friends and the employer had sat outside my window and listened in on our conversation that he was not invited to. The unfortunate reality is that you simply don’t know what sort of background checks unethical human resources use to find information on you. It is shameful and sad of employers to do this without any prior consent, and it really makes people feel isolated and lonely when so many others are out finding people just like them to share their views about life and the world, but you can’t be one of those people because people are spying on you and disagree with what you do in their personal ethos, regardless of how that will or will not effect your work. That is not a good world.
Hmm it looks like your site ate my first comment (it was super long) so I
guess I’ll just sum it up what I wrote and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog.
I too am an aspiring blog blogger but I’m still new to everything. Do you have any suggestions for beginner blog writers? I’d really appreciate it.
I refuse to be censored. The idea I cannot even with satire discuss current events, nor their outcomes for many is nothing more than censorship at its worst. Employers should not have the right to base your job competence on what one chooses to post. Obviously I do not post porn, nor obscenities, not any visible commentary against the companies I am trying to gain employment. Why then should we be forced to delete what is clearly a right of our civil rights and liberties to free speech? I was incensed to see that employers had looked into the comments and websites I used. They should be able to see from that, I am a competent, thinking individual who is able to look outside of the box. That I am capable of doing research, drawing logical conclusions based on fact, even if the outcome isn’t what the public wants to hear. I have the business sense to know how to perform tasks that go beyond the text book and classroom that are outdated and cannot be used.
The idea that we are watched and evaluated by our outside interests bothers me a lot. Unless one is showing photos of drunken, stupid, sophomoric behavior online, using obscenities. derogatory comments about potential bosses, companies, why refuse to hire those of us who are not? Why punish those of us who follow the news and choose to make educated comments? Just because someone posts something does not mean they will carry it to the workplace. What one does in their down time should be their right under the law. It should not impede their ability to be hired. That should be something the public has a right to do without losing our ability to be hired.
i think this site is very sketchy and i dont feel like this site is good because it is .com and that isn’t good so thats why i feel like this site is bad also it does not have good pictures that explain what it was talking about and i am a young kid that doesn’t really know a good site but i can tell that this isn’t a good site just for a lot of reasons and this just isn’t worth the time
completely true good advice
This website is very sketchy it is free of advertising. You can tell the difference if it is actually just ads or content. This site is open to everyone and the sites domain is .com there are a couple of good stuff you can contact the owner, it has the name of owner, and you can find when this was made. This website does not say if was last revised and the links don’t lead to active pages. This website is sketchy
good spetch bud but i love you pal
Garbage website i agree with jameson armstrong
so true pal i love you bud ❤
i am 11 years old and i can tell if this is bad you all are stupid mother fuckers.
i meant trucker im sorry
im a 11 too bro i love you jalen and jamo
❤ (: (;