The longer Facebook and other social media sites are around, the more we hear about social media discrimination. It can happen to the best of us: we post something to our accounts and years later apply for a job. If that post was untoward and your potential employer scours your account, you may find yourself passed over for the job.
Not only can social media sites hurt your chances of gaining employment, they can hurt your chances of being accepted to the college of your dreams. It’s becoming more common, and more acceptable, for an admissions board or potential employer to require that you allow access to your Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts. What you post innocently today may hurt you in the future.
College Admissions
According to Unigo, a web network providing assistance to potential college students, you can’t be sure whether your college admissions board will look at your Facebook page. While some do as a matter of course, others simply don’t have the time. However, if your Facebook profile happens to land in the lap of the board, be prepared to explain your posts.
Says an associate director of admissions at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio: “…consequences can result in denial of admission to college, legal ramifications, school expulsion or suspension and even loss of scholarship.” It would behoove teenagers to understand that posting on Facebook is incredibly public. If it’s not something that would be said in person, or plastered on a sign along the highway, it shouldn’t be posted to your Facebook wall.
[http://blog.universitydecisions.com/can-facebook-posts-hurt-college-acceptance]
Employment
Just as college admissions boards may look at your social network sites, you can expect potential employers to ask for access to your page as part of the hiring process. Photos, opinions and jokes that you have posted to your wall are all fair game when it comes to what your potential employer may be looking for.
Not only should you be careful about what you post on your wall, you should be wary of the friends that you keep. If you’ve got wild online friends who post pornography, obscene jokes or off-color news clips, it may be time to weed out your friends list.
On the opposite side of the coin, if you’ve created a Facebook account and only have a handful of friends, it may make you look as though you don’t follow through with tasks. If you don’t have time for a Facebook page, or have a page that you haven’t visited in several months, consider deleting it altogether.
Is It Legal?
The short answer is that yes, it is legal for college admission boards and potential employers to look at your profile. What information is used and how it is used, however, may not be. For instance, if a potential employer looks at your profile and finds out that you have a previously undisclosed medical issue, they may not be able to use that as a deciding factor in your employability.
If you’ve been denied employment due to what you suspect may be discrimination based off of the information garnered from your Facebook or Twitter account, you may have legal recourse. Employers are not allowed to use any information that would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act or Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
[http://www.cio.com/article/679830/Social_Networks_A_New_Hotbed_for_Hiring_Dis...]
Even though you may have legal recourse, hiring a lawyer can be expensive. The best course of action is to edit your social media very carefully. After you’ve edited your pages, have a trusted friend or family member look at them and make further suggestions. Remember, nothing is so important to share that it could cost you your future!
Nicole Morgan is a career counselor, and blogs for bestonlinembaguides.org where you can find information about the best mba programs. She enjoys helping her students find the right school programs online.
When are where is the line being drawn, if any at all? Should someone be punished for freedom of speech or is social networking not considered at all in this category? I'd like to hear what a lawyer has to say about this! What rights does the average Joe have?
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