Frowning on your Facebook

Every time i turn on the news lately i'm seeing a story on the digital dirt issue about facebook, myspace or another social networking site. Last night CBS news had a piece on facebook where they profiled an ivy league student and her facebook account.

Are college kids are getting the message? I'm sure a number of them dont even care (at least thats what my 21 yr old intern says about his peers) ...but if you are the parent of a kid in school you might want to do a little online digging before little susie gets home for the summer. Likewise if you are a career counselor in a college placement office ...you should be warning students of this trend becasue its not going away and it is only going to intensify.

Instead of Facebook, point them to sites like Ziggs, ZoomInfo and Linkedin. I bet most of them would prefer to be found there instead of on myspace. There's even a new site called Naymz, that will list your name at the top of Google, Yahoo, and MSN search results. Here's a sample profile of what you get.

Funny how this is such a hot issue. Think about it. This kind of content has always existed except 10 years ago it was buried in someone's desk draw and shared with only a few select friends. Now its posted online and available to millions with the click of a mouse. Call it 'open season' on one's personal information.

So what's the bottom line? I think Gretchen over at Jobsyntax says it best:

"the hard truth is that potential employers will google your name during your application and interview process. Get over it - and prepare for it now."

You said it girl.