Can Facebook Make or Break Your Job Application?

         The famous social network, Facebook, was originally designed in 2004 for Harvard students to connect with each other in a digital setting.  Facebook quickly gained attention and began expanding to universities and high schools worldwide.  With the colossal expansion of this social networking site, and the rapidly improving state of technology over the past eight years, approximately 845 million people are using facebook around the globe.  The 845 million users make up over 100 billion connections.    

So, how many Facebook friends do I have?  After deleting about 100 people from my friends list, I currently have 1,188.  “1,188?” one may ask, “You have 1,188 friends?”  The answer is no, and to be honest I don’t think I know the majority of them.  I started my Facebook in the eighth grade, which, at the time, was so young it was almost taboo.  Over the past five years I’ve managed to gather over 1,000 friends, and I currently keep in contact with almost none of them. I may “like” a photo every once in a while or a friend will write on my wall, but I don’t tend to use Facebook all that often for connecting with people.  Frankly, I don’t use it much at all.  Facebook is a convenient and clever way of having an advanced online telephone book of some sorts by keeping people’s contact information so that there is the option of reconnecting or contacting someone if need be.  I would say that I am in touch with anywhere from 10 to 20 people a week.  Something helpful that Facebook offers is Facebook chat and Facebook messaging.  A group of around ten of my friends and I keep a Facebook message thread going to post lengthy information, pictures, and links.  While we usually use Twitter for addressing a large group of friends at one time, the messaging on Facebook does come in handy when we need to write more than 140 characters.  Usually I am the one being contacted on Facebook.  I do not go out of my way to write on a wall unless it’s someone’s birthday.  If someone writes on my wall, I’ll get the notification and I’ll answer them back, but I am not frequently on it, nor do I feel the need to spend hours scrolling through a random person’s Facebook pictures with whom I sat next to in Spanish in the 10^th grade.  I find sharing personal information on Facebook or writing semi-personal things on friend’s Facebook walls to be unnecessary, and I would assume that if I was friend’s with someone and they needed to talk to me, they would have my number and could just call me. 

         Facebook is a hot spot for employers to get a feel for what their prospective employee is really like, and if they would be a good match for the company.  I’ve heard too many stories about how an individual’s Facebook has held them back from getting a job because of inappropriate information and pictures posted on their page.  It is not impossible for employers to view the information that is posted online, and because of this, Facebook can be destructive for some prospective employees.
         If I were to examine my friend, Nelson’s Facebook as an employer, we notice first of all that there is no inappropriate language being used, or inappropriate videos being posted on his wall.  When we further examine it by looking at his photos, we can see that he doesn’t have any pictures suggesting he is using any illegal substances or participating in underage drinking.  Also, under his tagged pictures link, we can get a gist of what Nelson’s interests are and what he likes.  He is in an acapella group, and seemingly spends a lot of his time rowing, and with family.  From an employer’s point of view, Nelsons seems to be a well-rounded, responsible, and professional individual, and his Facebook would further compel me to consider him for a position.