We knew potential employers did, but apparently our own alma mater checks a few college applicants every now and again

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/6966861/

Quote :

"Colleges check social networking sites of applicants Facebook generic Posted: Today at 9:40 p.m. Raleigh, N.C. — North Carolina State University senior Jennifer Thomas doesn’t just post anything on her Facebook page. “Anyone can go on your page and look at it,” she said. “I don’t think people realize those things are gonna stay around.” Thomas Griffin, director of undergraduate admissions at NCSU, said in rare case when admission officials have serious questions about a applicant they look them up on social networking Web sites Facebook or MySpace. “Social media is just one more way to verify information about students,” Griffin said. “They may reinforce our concerns.” Through social networking profiles, officials can see photos, job history and status updates. “If their Web site shows them in some conduct we deem inappropriate for our students that could be a red flag for us,” Griffin said. Griffin said there are about 24,000 applicants in a typical cycle and the school only checks the Web pages of a few. The tool might be used more in the future, he said. Lauren Overton said her fellow students post “anything and everything you can imagine” on their social networking sites. “It is really kind of scary for jobs and schools to look into that,” Overton said. But mentioning certain things could hurt your chances of getting a job or getting into a certain school. Mentioning partying, drinking or fighting, if you have a past history with the law, could hurt your image with a college admissions office. Experts say people should consider their Web page as important as their application. "

2/4/2010 11:12:17 PM

i wish the university had checked the facebook of that gang member student who shot the guy

2/4/2010 11:16:01 PM

what about privacy controls?

do people seriously not use them?

i mean i agree with not posting incriminating shit online but how about also not letting the world see your facebook page

2/4/2010 11:17:38 PM

do most people actually leave their profiles unlocked for everyone to see? i mean, colleges/employers shouldn't be able to see anything unless you let them have access.

reinforcing my opinion that people tend toward stupidity

2/4/2010 11:17:50 PM

[old]

2/4/2010 11:21:18 PM

Yeah mine's locked so I always think the same thing as you, NCSUWolfy or UberCool, when I read this kind of stuff.

I hate the new fb privacy rules that have reduced the privacy capabilities that a user can control over their own page.

2/4/2010 11:25:36 PM

i intentionally allow my facebook to be visible to the public

but then again, i don't have anything to hide, so i'm not worried about people disapproving of me

2/4/2010 11:27:08 PM

Quote :

"Mentioning partying, drinking or fighting"

WTF? Now simply having fun is inappropriate?

2/4/2010 11:28:58 PM

i dont care about people judging me

i just dont want people creepin on me

i like to do all the creepin thxu

2/4/2010 11:50:41 PM

there are some companies these days that have developed a software to get around "private" profiles

sell to colleges/employers

PROFT

2/4/2010 11:55:46 PM

Quote :

"We knew potential employers did, but apparently our own alma mater checks a few college applicants every now and again"

I have heard that some employers don't do this because it exposes them to potential discrimination law suits etc.

2/5/2010 12:20:08 AM

Because if something is on the internet, and it says it's you, and it has pictures of you, and the information matches.. well, it's you.

It's only going to take a couple lawsuits appealed up to the Supreme Court for this practice to be abandoned.

2/5/2010 12:40:52 AM

Quote :

"I have heard that some employers don't do this because it exposes them to potential discrimination law suits etc."

I could see that.

2/5/2010 1:11:16 AM

To fix this, make it so that no one can see shit, unless they are your friend on FB.

2/5/2010 9:11:46 AM

Quote :

"i intentionally allow my facebook to be visible to the public but then again, i don't have anything to hide, so i'm not worried about people disapproving of me"

2/5/2010 9:16:53 AM

I didn't think I had anything to hide either, but apparently I do.

2/5/2010 9:19:15 AM

in my profession I pretty much HAVE to keep my facebook private.

2/5/2010 9:51:34 AM

my buddy works for the dept of defense and AG's office and nothing's locked on his, then again he's the networking type that facebook was made for

2/5/2010 10:25:06 AM

i believe in checking backgrounds via facebook/internet, if you're dumb enough to post dumb shit on there, why should I allow you to represent whatever I'm affiliated with? We all have our own skeletons, keep them in your closet though.

Out drinking with friends when you're of age is fine...underage drinking and posting pictures = you're retarded and not as cool as you think

2/5/2010 10:45:52 AM

Legality isn't even the issue. A potential employer/college could check out your facebook, see you sloppy drunk in some pic, and deny you on that basis. You don't even want to give someone that chance to judge you.

2/5/2010 10:48:31 AM

Quote :

"I have heard that some employers don't do this because it exposes them to potential discrimination law suits etc."

They don't officially do this as part of a formalized hiring process, but I'm sure they all do it anyway.

2/5/2010 11:27:40 AM

In other news, younger generation (teens) doesn't value privacy nearly as much as older generation (late 20's and beyond). Young 20's are the group now who grew with Google / internet being a part of their lives.

Who was that guy from NC State a few years back that tried to be all serious and run for Raleigh office, they got exposed with some pretty bad stuff he posted on one of the social networking sites?

2/5/2010 9:35:28 PM

Quote :

" You don't even want to give someone that chance to judge you."

or maybe you actually have something to offer your potential college/employer, and allowing them to see your facebook will just give them even more reason to accept/hire you.

2/5/2010 10:17:31 PM

I had my facebook invisible so my students would quit searching for me and trying to be my friend. I don't want to be their friend. After facebook changed the privacy settings, the whole thing was visible and I started having students tell me they found my facebook. Even though I've had it to friends only since the switch, non-friends can still apparently see my whole profile--and I have no idea how to fix that. I have nothing to hide on there, but I get sick of sixteen year olds pretending that it's scandalous for a teacher to be on facebook.

2/5/2010 10:25:18 PM

I was not aware that all pages are now public...

2/5/2010 10:50:54 PM

^^thats weird cause mine is still private....

it's under settings and then privacy settings

2/5/2010 11:07:20 PM

They aren't public, but they aren't as private as they used to be. My former privacy settings were so that you could not search for me or add me as a friend on facebook; I had to add you. With the new privacy format, the most restrictive you can be is that only friends of friends can search for or add you. You can still set it up so that non-friends can't see your wall, info, or photos.

2/7/2010 4:30:34 PM

^is that really a big deal though? Who cares if they can see you and request your friendship. You just ignore that shit

2/8/2010 1:06:17 PM

No, it's not that big of a deal. However, I still prefer the old privacy capabilities.

2/8/2010 1:17:32 PM

Quote :

"Because if something is on the internet, and it says it's you, and it has pictures of you, and the information matches.. well, it's you. It's only going to take a couple lawsuits appealed up to the Supreme Court for this practice to be abandoned done behind closed doors and not mentioned as an official policy."

2/8/2010 1:45:30 PM

How bad would it suck to be one of the few out of 24,000 fuckin people to be denied entry to NCSU because they checked your facebook on a whim. How do they even decide which ones to check?

2/9/2010 4:49:35 PM

My friends shithead little brother got denied to State

I wonder why?

Lets check out his facebook

2/9/2010 5:08:48 PM

Probably comes up when you have to answer that question about having been in trouble with the law.

I mean, if you have to say you got in trouble once for weed or underage alcohol, and they check your FB and it's filled with pics of you smoking or drinking, that looks bad, you know?

2/9/2010 5:09:08 PM

^^was it the everclear pissing photo, or that ugly ass hat?

My vote is the hat.

2/9/2010 7:01:14 PM

^ yea i would say anyone that owns one of those hats needs to get denied from State

2/9/2010 7:07:57 PM

I agree too lol.

2/9/2010 9:58:29 PM