Self-Censorship on the Net : Managing Your Net Rep for Potential Employers

During the summer, I laughed at a friend of mine for Googling the guy she was starting to date at the time. A quick search, and she found out that his past self wasn't the well-dressed, party boy, and hip-hop dancer-DJ that he appeared and claimed to be in the present. In fact, he was someone that graced the academic scene at Northeastern University with his severely, stereotypically "nerdy" ways (something I found attractive, but she apparently did not). She found his old Friendster account, found him breaking any number of fashion rules, and then proceeded to retroactively judge him based on some internet findings. The poor guy...I defended him, and his right to be who he is today, and who he was yesterday, in peace. I had spoken with him extensively about international career goals and traveling, and found him to be a very impressive conversationalist. So what, I told my friend, if his past-life wardrobe and hair cuts were so horribly offensive? Does he not show evidence of a serious style make-over? So what, I demanded, if he was more so an Indian bhangra dance DJ than a top-forties-esque hip-hop one? He didn't lie about his rich schooling and business history. He did not really lie about being a DJ either, per se, although he skewed or rather hid the actuality of things to some degree. We censor ourselves all the time in day-to-day interactions with people. But I think where it seems to count more nowadays, we do not think to censor ourselves, and that place which to which I am referring is (surprise, surprise) the internet.

Google "Hana Visaya". Search "Hana Visaya" on Facebook or Myspace. You will not be able to help but judge me. I cannot stop you. Little did that unsuspecting guy know, the "truth" which concerned my friend was only a link, click, and a load away. And he was out of a date! Out of sheer curiosity, I even helped dish the DJ details when I stumbled upon a site featuring download-able sample clips of his old work. With distaste for his beats, my overly critical friend (who, by the way, works for Kiis FM, a popular hit radio station) was even more turned off, saying that he had been bragging about music that was clearly not worthy of boasting about.

So he's out of a date with my friend at least. Too bad, so sad. I like to think that somewhere out there, a girl is going to Google that man and be happy with the search results. But what if I'm not looking for a date? What if I'm looking for a job?

What I'm more worried about is the potential sabotage of our professional lives because of employer access to social networking sites. The following Youtube video, taken from a CBS news broadcast, talks about employers seeing past our interview face by looking at our internet face...

MYSPACE//FACEBOOK: EMPLOYERS ARE WATCHING



Tim DeMello, the employer being interviewed, estimates that 20% of employers are doing net scans of potential employees before their interviews. The notion of an internet "footprint" scares me a little. It made me think twice about anything I've ever had on any online profile, whether they were public, private, or even deleted. Somewhere out there in cyber space, I feel like they're haunting me, taunting me with the possibility that a potential boss will one day hack into those things, and not like what they see. This is largely unwarranted paranoia that I'm experiencing, I feel, but at the same time, the fear is valid. If one thing can tip an interviewer off in an instant (say, you're wearing a case full of perfume or cologne), one little blurb, one tagged photo...anything on Facebook can rub them the wrong way. DeMello's right in pointing out that some students really don't care that anything and everything about them is exposed by Facebook, and that they need to metaphorically "cover-up" with a more careful, professional online identity. It's just not enough to polish your resume anymore, it seems. The following video from the UK agrees, we need to manage our net reputations.

MANAGE YOUR NET REP

I think that the rhetorical set-up of this video is powerful because it cleverly juxtaposes the interview setting and the interview persona (buttoned up, polished, and eager to sell himself), with the all-too-common online persona who lets it all go ("Loosen Up My Buttons" by the Pussy Cat Dolls comes into mind). I think people forget that the internet is a public space.

The statistics in the video are striking. 59% of the one in five employers who admittedly scan online profiles say it influences their decision!!! I scoped the site advertised at the end: "viadeo.com/netrep". It's fascinating to me that a business opportunity exists solely to help others "clean up" their internet reputations. The website's purpose is backed by a series of studies conducted by the independent market research company, YouGov. If you get a chance, please read the full report featured on the site called "What does your Net Rep say about You? A study of how your internet reputation can influence your career prospects". It's really interesting and eye-opening: a reminder that we never know who is watching us online.