Should You Change Your Online Image?

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  CorinneElletson10/23/08 Report as spam
  1

  RE: Should You Change Your Online Image?

  Hi Jon!
  
  So many businesses these days actually "Google"
  or "Facebook" resumes, ours included. We will
  look up information on promising candidates to
  see if there is anything we should be concerned
  about. We do not, however, use this to
  overshadow the candidate's interview. We
  understand that people have lives outside of
  their job.
  
  I guess the biggest problem is that not only
  can we, as the employer, find information on
  our employees and candidates, so can our
  customers and business relations. I have a
  personal FaceBook page, and I am surprised by
  the number of clients and customers that ask me
  to "be their friend" and share my full profile
  with them.
  
  While this is a great way to build
  relationships with clients and customers, it
  should be done carefully so that you do not end
  up mixing your "at home" life with your "at
  work" life. This really is a thin line topic,
  and I think we are just starting to see the
  very tip of this issue and what it can mean for
  the growing gray area between personal and
  business life.

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  jongreer10/23/08 Report as spam
  2

  RE: Should You Change Your Online Image?

  Thanks for the value-add, Corinne. I'm a middle-aged guy who works on his own, so this issue is more theoretical than real for me, which is why I was hoping the BNET community would add their insights, and you did!

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  ghowe10/23/08 Report as spam
  3

  RE: Should You Change Your Online Image?

  I am 24 and looking for a PR job and plan on keeping my Facebook the way it is.
  
  Security settings on Facebook allow you to keep the general public and/or your networks (college, company or geographic region) from viewing your content (photos/friend comments).
  
  High school and college administrations have addressed this issue in the last few years and I think the advice has been widely heeded.
  
  Of course, idiots will be idiots, so those with questionable content who do not alter their privacy settings are more likely to suffer.

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  kayteelinn10/23/08 Report as spam
  4

  RE: Should You Change Your Online Image?

  I have a Facebook page that I keep clean by Facebook standards, but it still reflects my personal life and personality that I may not exhibit all the time in a professional work environment. Even though I know there's nothing compromising on there, every time a higher-up colleague, client or journalist adds me as a friend, I get a bit nervous. I think it's helpful for people that you work closely with to learn more about who you are as an individual, but you can't expect to be taken seriously in the professional world if you proudly display compromising photos on your Facebook (or MySpace, or whatever). I think people fresh out of college are definitely getting more savvy about this, making use of privacy settings and removing the rampant drug references that I used to consistently come across years ago when screening interviewees. I know everyone has a private life, but that should be kept private and not be detailed in a forum that clients can see. Considering public relations and communications focuses so much on relationships and public perception, it's still surprising to me that anyone wouldn't "get" that the rules apply to them as an individual as well.

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  Gloriisabel10/23/08 Report as spam
  5

  RE: Should You Change Your Online Image?

  great advice

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  jongreer10/23/08 Report as spam
  6

  RE: Should You Change Your Online Image?

  I would add that this topic was initially raised to me in the context of friending journalists, so they would therefore be privy to your entire profile.

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  jensipin10/23/08 Report as spam
  7

  RE: Should You Change Your Online Image?

  One thing our office has tried to do as a safeguard is try to keep professional relationships on business networking sites like LinkedIn. However, there has been a large creep into the Facebook world, not invited by associates, but by clients. It is a hard line to ride, especially if your organization is a non-partisan organization during an election. Our hope is that LinkedIn will add new widgets and applications so that at least one professional networking site is as fun and friendly as Facebook.

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  christinacampoy10/23/08 Report as spam
  8

  RE: Should You Change Your Online Image?

  I am 24 and have definitely cleaned up my facebook profile since I graduated from college. I had so many inside jokes that if taken out of context, wouldn't sound very good. I took down a few pictures too. There wasn't anything racy or something that I would say is inappropriate, but anything that didn't portray a professional image. I still have some goofy pictures up and my profile still reflects me... just with a lot less profanity and sexual innuendos.
  My profile is set to private, but I heard/read that there are ways of getting around that. I didn't want to take any chances while I was looking for a job earlier this year. Additionally, a lot of my colleagues have requested me as a friend... I know I can set them to limited profile - but I just don't want to give anyone any ammunition.

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  ghowe10/23/08 Report as spam
  9

  RE: Should You Change Your Online Image?

  (add to post #3) I also have a LinkeIn account strictly for professional connections.

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  Hops1110/27/08 Report as spam
  10

  Definitely maintain your online image

  It's stupid not to ensure that your best self is presented online. There's a limit to what most people will think is charmingly mischievous. And a few tagged photos or wall posts can mean lost confidence and respect from clients, coworkers, professional contacts, etc. Who wants a bad reputation to haunt them?
  
  At 23, the main thing I was sure to scrub from my facebook page was my age. No mention of graduation dates or birth year. I prefer to let people assume I'm in my mid-20s so they take me a bit more seriously. That goes for coworkers as well as clients - I don't want anyone thinking they can walk all over me just because I was sleeping through my electives and doing keg stands a year and a half ago. (Those pics are scrubbed, too, btw.)

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  brownmillerpr10/28/08 Report as spam
  11

  RE: Should You Change Your Online Image?

  I definitely scrubbed my Facebook page. No sense in taking any risk. I still put pictures and comments up but I always think about what my boss, coworkers or clients would think before I add anything.