Social Networking Sites: Consider What You Post Online

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Nowadays it is becoming more common for people to upload content, (both text and multimedia), to external sites - in particular social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. But what has started as a trend to keep in contact with others is starting to morph into an online record of who you are and what you've been up to. In the face of job hunting and developing a career, it is important to realise that the content you place online can come back to haunt you.

Recently I noticed the following blog entry from About.com indicating some concerning statistics indicating that employers are using social networking sites to screen potential employees:

Online acts of idiocy — that's the term Forbes.com used to describe the things that get people into trouble on social media sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Some examples: tweeting about being unsure whether to accept a job offer with a fatty paycheck because of the commute and "hating the work;" asking a spouse for a divorce on Facebook and having a Second Life affair (When Social Media Bites by Taylor Buley).

If you haven't taken the warnings that what you post online can be discovered by potential employers seriously, listen up. The aforementioned article reports that a survey Harris Interactive conducted for CareerBuilder.com found that "45% of potential employers screen candidates via social media, up from 22% last year. Thirty-five percent of employers say they found reasons not to hire a person based on information they found on social network profiles." Now, if you know people are watching you and basing decisions that can affect your livelihood on what they see, shouldn't you do something about it?

Remember that when posting to an external website, your data is being provided to a third party for use/display/storage. Take some time to consider what you post - it's not always as private as it may seem!