We have been made aware over the past few years that when you post a new photo on Facebook or make a comment on a message board to be sure it"s something that we want the public to see and/or read. Now a new company is making some waves by handling social networking background checks for employers who want to check to see if a possible employee is posting on various sites and message boards.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the company, Social Intelligence, has been offering such service for a little while now. Once more, their work isn"t an invasion of a person"s privacy at least according to a new ruling from the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC has determined that if a company wants to do a check on what your hobbies or outside interests are, they can do so.
The article states that for most of you, you will likely be OK if a possible employer checks up on your personal Facebook page. Even pictures of you partying hard isn"t likely to have much of an effect on an employer"s viewpoint of how you will work out as a employee of a company. However if you post racist comments, display pictures that might be considered sexually explicit or have pictures showing you doing illegal things like taking drugs a possible employer will likely pass on your application.
The article also gives out some tips on how you might better present yourself online such as removing any pictures that might be taken out of context, checking your privacy settings on Facebook and Twitter or even hiring a company that will monitor your online presence and even defend you against any false negative attacks from others.