Facebook and Human Resources

[J.K. Gregg]

[The Dharma Bum]

Well, you shouldn't have to associate with a person that exhibits personality characteristics you don't want to be associated with.

[J.K. Gregg]

[exploited]

[J.K. Gregg]

[Dobby]

I wonder if the company would have a leg to stand on if a claim was made by said individual that the company was 'stalking' them, as a result of this pre-screening of prospective employees. I'm not sure what the outcome of this would be in a court of law in regards to anti-stalking laws. Of course there is still the other side of the argument that should someone be unhappy with the way the way fb operates then maybe they shouldn't use it. To use a terrible analogy, fb is a dodgy bar. If you don't want to be associated with the going's on at the dodgy bar, then don't go to it (or use fb in this instance). However, this is not to say that the people that use this bar (the company in this instance) are not using for dodgy or potentially illegal purposes, as they probably are.

[HeatherG]

What about personal thoughts and opinions? People post a lot more than pictures of themselves getting drunk or hooking up with prostitutes. Who's to say an employer wouldn't look into political or religious ideals and hire/not hire someone based on that? I think if HR is going to look at someone's FB page they have to do it with no bias and I think that's almost impossible to do for most people.

[Aaron]

I don't see a problem with a company viewing what is viewable..., if you are stupid enough to broadcast questionable enough subject matter, or material about yourself or others that a company you're trying to interview for might change their opinion of you, you're a fool. But demanding passwords is a caustic invasion of privacy. If you have it intelligently set to friends-only... there is no problem.

[Dennis]

[Precocity]

People want to facebook they better be ready to accept the responsibility of what can come out of it. Since more and more employers are wanting access to their facebook pages, they better be aware of what's on it unless they are sure they won't have to show it. You want the job, they want your facebook, then pay the price.