I think this issue is going to move rather quickly. Another case has come to light: A middle school that has asked for and received a student's Facebook password several times. The student had been complaining about a hall monitor not liking her. On one hand, you have something like Columbine that justifies school access to fb pages. On the other, you have a typical student complaint. Obviously, there needs to be a standard. There have also been a number of cases where teachers have been fired for complaining about students on their personal fb pages. The public vs. private issue is really going to be a tough one to call.
@Bolaji If the public posts are what make the company question your character, that's one thing. Anyone who posts publicly has to assume the consequences for whatever will be associated with his/her name on a public forum. But if someone set it on a private settings for friends only and does not have everything on his/her wall set for public view, it seems to me that they should not be coereced to show the private posts to the employer.
That being said, people should be aware of the fact that no privacy setting is absolutely secure and that they should really avoid posting anything that they wouldn't want publicized. Some people are even cautious about putting anything really personal in an email sent in confidence to a friend lest that go awry.
I quite understand and agree with you. I have a facebook account, I set some privacy on some posts and pictures. You can tell about someone through the kind of company he keep, so as friends circle in facebook from the post you exchange. Facebook gives a preview into the character and potential of future employees. By taking a look at a future employee's information on the profiles and other features of facebook, the employers can be sure that whoever they hire will fit into their organization and company better. For example organizations like churches, religious organization and political organization who require future employees to have specific religious and political views or belong to certain doctrines and philosophies. Instead of having to take chances that the person they hire has actually developed the same vies as the company, the employers can check the information on facebook and therefore pick only the candidates whose profiles and posted information indicates they have the same religious or political views as the organization.
If employer think it is the best way to get what they want, and an employee think he/she has nothing to hide, I don't see any problem in that. This is not a discrimination but a choice.
In the case of employer requesting for the access to employee fb private post when hiring, it might be to get the detail information and getting to know more about the applicants brfore hiring. It can be a crossed line after the employee has been engaged.
Susan, While I agree with you, I believe perhaps too much sharing is going on in social media. If you put yourself out there so much and there's information pertinent to how you might conduct yourself at a company if employed by them, the potential employer may feel free to act on these. You might not know that's why you didn't get hired (they'll tell you if that was why you got the job) but it will factor in.
On Facebook the information is not available to the public if you have set the privacy of your posts right. The information is available to whom who have chosen to make it available to, and not to anyone else.
I don't believe it's legal if someone decides to hire or not to hire someone based on what the person posts on Facebook, personal life, etc. An employer should only be interested in how the prospective employee is going to perform in the company.
It's always a bonus if the person in question is a remarkable human being with high values and feelings. But you can't really discriminate someone for what he or she posts on Facebook.
@Jaden you're right about posts that are public. But some people post to FB with pictures and status updates that can only be seen by the level of friends they designate. It seems that access to these more private posts is what is requested, and that seems to cross a line beyond the standard background check for criminal records and public presence on the internet.
@Susan While I treat Facebook as a pubic forum and do not post anything of a very personal nature, I know many people who do. They post all about their relationships, including their romantic attachments and breakups. Often the people they are involved with are also on FB and named as such. I do wonder what privacy settings one of my FB connections used because she went through the details of her illness and surgery. She asked if she can hide this information from a prospective employer, and I was wondering how she hopes to get away with that when she posted it on FB.
In my opinion, I think for the purpose of background checking, where "qualifying and disqualifying information" may be available to hire an employee. Employers can find out about who's working or to work for them, and as the needed personal information is already publicly available, so much the better. It's also legal, because on the internet, you have a lower expectation of privacy. What one posts online is not as private as, say, a home telephone conversation. For an employer to view pictures on facebook at a frat party doesn't constitute and invasion of privacy since the information is available to the public
I totally agree with your thoughts on password sharing. It sounds almost ridiculous to me, it's like "I need to see what sort of things you say and post on Facebook to see if I could give you job or not."
On Facebook I have a quite small group of people (less than 300) whom I appreciate and trust. It's a mix of personal and professional contacts, though, and I like it that way.
As I said previously, I have nothing to hide, and believe that getting closer with some people you work with can be beneficial for the professional relationship. Don't people who work together go for coffee and talk about personal stuff out from the office? They do. So I have virtual coffees with my professional contacts on Facebook, instead, as they are in different parts of the world. :) It works well for me, which doesn't mean it has to work well for everyone.
On LinkedIn I may have the same professional contacts, the difference is that there I don't say or share anything personal. It's more distant.
Twitter, for me, is just a source for getting and sharing information, mainly professional or topics I am interested in.
Google+ is almost non-existent, I only post links to articles, things I read. That's all.
Yes, it's a very disturbing trend. It shouldn't be supported or accepted.
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Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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