Thursday 26 January 2012

Who Views Your Facebook?

This week’s lab led us to Facebook, one of my favorite time wasters. I was excited that I finally had a good excuse to go on. Our assignment was to design a public page to be used as an online resume. An important aspect of this assignment was to keep our page professional. In order to do this I continually told myself, if I put it on the page I would have to be prepared to talk about it in an interview. This definitely helped me to keep my page professional.
        The most difficult part of this assignment was finding a photo. Above all the display photo is a gateway for me to earn respect from my future employers. Therefore I needed to find one that reflected who I am and that I take my professional life seriously. The main reason I chose this display picture is it shows myself in nature, which demonstrates my passion for the environment. Another important reason for picking this picture is I am the only one in it. The employer is not looking to hire my friends or family, just me. A classmate of mine has a similar display picture, she involved nature and it is just of her. 

Top Part of My Facebook Profile (Photo Credit: Jenna Patterson)



Bottom Part of My Facebook Profile


           In her article on CSO Online, Joan Goodchild discusses social media mistakes that can lead to job loss. These mistakes range from complaining about your job to posting too much information about your social life. The alarming part of this article is how many companies use social media to track their employees.
        I will end my post by writing this, job opportunities do not come around everyday. It is silly to let something like one bad photo come between you and the opportunity of a lifetime. This assignment has taught me the value of a professional Facebook page, and this is definitely something I’ll remember for the future.

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3 comments:

  1. Sydney Anne30 March 2012 at 10:25

    I agree, if I have learned one thing from our Facebook assignment it is that Facebook is for friends. Your profile must be secure and for friends only, if you add co-workers or employers edit their security setting limiting what they have access too. Otherwise, make a professional Facebook page in which you can maintain yourself as a professional. The internet scares me, I know I have pictures floating around somewhere from 9th grade on here that are embarrassing, someday they will unfortunately surface.

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  2. Carmen Dam12 April 2012 at 14:46

    This assignment also taught me how valuable a professional Facebook page could be. I had no idea how many companies kept track of their employees through social media. Personally, I am very careful about what I post on Facebook but I have no control over what my friends post about me on on my wall. The thought of just ONE bad picture ruining my chances at a career is quite unsettling - I'd rather that my professional page is pulled up when they do a Facebook search rather than my personal profile.

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  3. CC13 April 2012 at 15:23

    I agree with what you say about job opportunities - it would be a waste to not get a job because of Facebook. Like what Carmen says above, you have no control over what other people post about you. One way to get around this would be changing your privacy settings, and making sure that only friends can see what is written on your wall. That be said, this also means it is important to monitor who you add as a friend on Facebook. If you must add coworkers or your employer as a friend, you should separate your contact lists so that your friends can see things, but those you work with can't.

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