The Facebook Dilemma

Facebook, the popular social network, launched in 2004 to help students connect with each other. After initially allowing only college students to join the site, in 2006 Facebook opened up to allow everyone above the age of 13 to join. With that announcement, professors, co-workers, corporations, and families joined students in using the site. Since that announcement, the information posted on the social network has caused quite a dilemma for its users.

Fast forward to the future and nowadays the information being posted on the site, specifically by students, have been made publicly available for all to scrutinize, including their bosses. Pictures of underage drinking and other activities employers think would taint their company's image have been the basis for these students losing their jobs.

One such student was Andrew Woo, 19, a Junior at Adelphi University. Woo's friends initially had to encourage him to join the site. They went so far as to make an account for him, giving him the details when they created his page. Once he received the account information he, not taking the page seriously, put offensive sentences where information like his name and description should be.

"I never used facebook to begin with, but because all of my friends were on it they wanted me to be on it too. They ended up creating a page for me and then gave me the username and password after," said Woo. "I didn't really take the whole idea seriously, so when I logged in I decided to joke around by putting some pretty bad words where my regular information should have been."

For Woo, what seemed like a light and funny matter turned into a very serious one when his supervisor found his account when trying to friend him.

"I left my page like that and didn't really use it much, so when my supervisor came to me about my facebook page I was really shocked," explained Woo. "That shock pretty much became horror when I saw that he was visibly upset with me and explained that I could lose my job over this because I should represent my employer."

Ever since then, Woo, who is now known as "Andover Bandover" on the site, took out the majority of the offensive information and stopped using the site altogether.

The debate erupting from situations like Woo's is whether employers should be able to look at information posted on Facebook and use it against employees. Should posting pictures or videos of inappropriate activities effect one's job?

Picture from: Amherst Bulletin