Keep your laws off my Facebook

Various children’s advocacy organizations in the United Kingdom are calling for a ban on employers looking at prospective employees’ Facebook pages, citing data protection laws. According to a story in the Daily Mail, studies found that one in five employers check the Internet and social networking sites for information on prospective employees. And for these organizations, that’s just too much. They believe that trolling Facebook is akin to skimming through people’s diaries, and people shouldn’t be punished for what they write angrily in their journals.\nAs bad as it would be to not get a job because of a few pictures of debauchery up on our favorite social networks, we think these organizations should put their energies behind somebody or something that’s in a vulnerable position. The responsibility of protecting one’s Facebook page and career lies solely with the individual. By now, everyone knows that chances are good companies are doing Internet searches before they make hiring and firing decisions, so it’s only logical that Facebook becomes that next step. And really, we think that most people using Facebook already know this. Whether it’s completely right, this is the system the Internet has created: You post something online and chances are it doesn’t go away. We’re all aware that it’s not smart to tag yourself in certain pictures from last weekend. \nFacebook knows this, too, and continues to allow its users to make their profiles more private and secure. Additionally, schools such as IU are taking the initiative in informing students about the dangers of Facebook recklessness. We’ve all seen the “I just Facebooked you!” posters displayed on campus. Frankly, there’s enough information out there about how and why individuals should watch themselves on Facebook that if someone does lose a job opportunity because of a profile, it’s no one else’s fault. \nThe organizations calling for legal restrictions on Facebook searching say that employers using social networks for secondary information creates an unfair playing field between those who do have a profile and those who do not. But if those with a profile manage it in the correct manner, no issues will arise. People seem to forget that Facebook can be used for more than posting party photos, and a good profile can even enhance a person’s professional image. In today’s society, no one is going to be penalized simply for having a profile, considering the article also notes that more than 60 percent of British executives have a page on some networking site.\nSocial networking sites are most certainly new resources for companies to fact-check during the hiring process, and like it or not, it’s reality. Using your brain when deciding what to post and maintaining high-security settings is the only way to go. Creating laws that regulate the use of popular Web sites – especially ones that users control – will take us in a direction we don’t want to go.