Personal postings online may reveal too much detail

By John Williams

Published: March 18, 2008

It's the time of the year college seniors are preparing for full-time careers and high-school students are considering part-time summer jobs. But before they market themselves, students need to be aware that potential employers have access to their profiles on popular online social networks such as Facebook and MySpace. Let's say some of the information on these personal sites is not exactly "G” rated.

Often, people make the mistake of posting information about their drinking and gambling adventures, as well as their sexual exploits on these voyeuristic venues. Consider, too, that many of their friends also can post unsavory pictures and comments on their friend's Web site as well. Remember what happened to the mayor of Arlington, Ore., who posted racy pictures of herself on MySpace? Carmen Kontur-Gronquist was removed from office.

University of Central Oklahoma student Blake Fries admitted he has some "stuff” his friends posted on his Facebook that needs to be deleted. "Some of it is pictures and comments they left,” he said. "I try to keep an eye on it but I don't check it every day.”

Lauren Seabrook, who uses both Facebook and MySpace, said she already has landed an internship this summer. Seabrook said she's been thinking about cleaning up her Web sites. "I've already been looking in that direction,” she said. "There is always something someone could write that you need to watch out for.”

As an experiment to show how easy it is to find personal information posted on these social networks, I created a Facebook account using a fictitious name and birth date and began browsing for any connections to people who live in Edmond.

I discovered the Web site of a 25-year-old Edmond woman, and from her Facebook profile I quickly learned where she went to high school and college and where she works now. I learned she is an avid OU football fan, she watches "Desperate Housewives” and thinks Conan O'Brien is funny. She is Catholic and was a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority and is getting married in May. I know the name of her fiance, where he works and their wedding date. I was able to do all of this in less than 30 minutes. Is anyone scared yet?

My advice to young people getting ready for the job market is to only post information on these sites that you would let your mother and father read. But parents can be disengaged or not even know how to turn on a computer; employers doing background checks often know how and where to look for a peek at your private life.

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