Class Reading Reaction: Identity Management
I can really identify with the course reading article, Identity Management: Multiple Presentations of Self in Facebook. The article basically researches employees at IBM on their use of Facebook and breaks these users into three categories: 1) Reliving the College Days, 2) Dressed to Impress & 3) Living in the Business World. Being a college student, it is very commonplace to have photos of drinking and partying behavior which are not at all professional. With college level graduates applying for jobs and entering the professional realm, what is an easy way to transition your Facebook profile to a more professionally acceptable profile?
I am currently applying for jobs, so I am glad we are discussing this material now. I want to be able to present myself as a true professional on Facebook, but still maintain the relationships with friends and family members. A particular concern of mine is pictures that have been posted on Facebook? Should I just delete any picture that could be perceived as a “partying” photo or might this be a benefit to me in the career field for a future employer to see that I can effectively balance my social and work life?
Any suggestions?
Here is the Link for the original article!
Amanda Stirratt 
I went through this a few years ago and just deleted or untagged myself from any picture that contained alcohol. I really don’t understand how employers get to your photos if you keep them private, anyway… unless you are dumb enough to friend potential employers haha.
I am glad the article spoke to you, and I really enjoy seeing notes and reactions to class readings! Thank you for posting it, and sorry for the late comment!
I usually untag myself on a unflattering/risky picture, but have you tried giving a different privacy setting for different groups? It’s pretty time consuming but I feel like it’s all worth it at the end.
My piece of advice: Make all pictures of you that are tagged from others as only you can view. That is what I do. You can’t control what others post, but you can control what is shown on your profile. Also, untag any particularly unflattering pictures. You can also ask friends to not take a picture or post the picture. If they are really friends, then they would respect your decision to not have those pictures posted to the world! While you are looking for jobs, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to just set privacy so that nobody can see any pictures on your profile. You can always bring those pictures back when you are done job hunting!! 🙂 good luck!
Well personally i would say that just take out any partying picture you have on Facebook BUT there are moderate images that you can post of you partying that are not wild or crazy you know. Rachel said in her blog that if it’s a picture that takes you longer than 15 seconds thinking about posting it then you probably shouldn’t. since you’re looking for a job, you probably want your profile to be super professional i feel like. you wouldn’t want an opportunity to pass you by just because of a Facebook image that you have their. Better be safe than sorry!!! So i would say make sure that your tagged images are hidden so ONLY YOU can see them, you can never trust what people are going to post!!! also, go through all the pictures that you have posted and make sure their appropriate and that it wouldn’t matter if your future employer saw them. hope this helps 🙂
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Comments « The Chronicles of Nara said this on March 1, 2011 at 2:55 am |
Another option would be possibly creating another Facebook account solely for professional purposes. That way, nothing from your social life that could be deemed inappropriate would be an issue. If you already feel the need to censor your professional contacts from your social ones, perhaps this is the best way.
The idea seems somewhat of a hassle to me but I know many people that have two accounts for this reason.