Caught by the Mystical Facebook Referencer

It has been mentioned in the news several times in the past year, this idea of Facebook being used as a reference by employers. While reading through the blogs of fellow students who discussed the topic, I must say that I was on the same page. How could an employer really ever access my information without being a friend?

Well, that all changed when the theory was unexpectedly tested on me last night. I will be moving to Boston for the summer and in my attempt to find housing I finally found one that sounded perfect, a group of 4 photographers from MassArt. After responding to the post, I received a message from the owner asking me to send her my Facebook page since she wanted to make sure that she knew enough about me to ensure my compatibility with her roommates. While I felt pretty confident sending her my Facebook address, I started thinking about how well my page actually represents me and whether I should start changing things that I figured a group of art students just wouldn't find very cool, untagging drunk pictures of me by the pool, or my dorky family Christmas pics.

I always shied away from including any information about myself, no relationship status, no favourite movies/music/books..., nothing about my degree, ect... I always felt like all of that information was a way of constructing an image that did not accurately portray me, rather creating a stereotype based on my likes and dislikes. Well, my rejection of a superficial me smacked me across the face last night when I thought about rushing to my page and including all of the things about me that I thought a group of art students might find appealing, favourite bands, books and artists; you know, all of that cliche art stuff. I was a victim of my own judgments.

I decided against changing anything except for a somewhat offensive name of an album, since I realized that Facebook marks your changes as part of your status. I figured that it would look worst if she saw that I had rushed to change everything because of her.

And there it was, I became everything I ever criticized about Facebook in a blink of an eye. I realized just how important it is to make sure your Facebook isn't very offensive since employers won't need to crack into your profile, they will most likely just simply ask you for your contact information.

Last night changed my Facebook outlook for life, I started un- tagging my drunk pictures and started thinking about responsible things to say about myself, while I am against the idea of detailing yourself by your likes and dislikes as people are tempted to stereotype you, I realized that sometimes people need to be able to simplify their understanding of you in order for them to give you a chance.