Resources / Ripples & Wipeouts

Critics of social media often warn users of the potential dangers of sharing too much information. But in this day and age, social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are where we interact and connect with one another. 

Aware of their critics, the site managers continue to modify and reassure users that they have control over the information they share. A good example of this is Facebook’s new Timeline Review feature that allows you to review the posts people make on your Timeline (and the pictures they tag you in). Privacy controls are invaluable, for they allow users to manage their image.

However, all the privacy controls in the world will not be able to stop a potential employer who asks for your Facebook username and password. In addition to being an obvious invasion of privacy, this action by employers and businesses is also against Facebook’s terms of service. I think lawmakers should outlaw such practices because they can interfere with the hiring process and result in unintended consequences, such as discrimination.

We have the right to manage how much information we want to share. In life, we act differently around our friends than we do our employers, so why should we be denied the right to censor what each group gets to see on our Facebook profiles? I think there is something wrong with an employer or business if they demand personal information from an employee who is uncomfortable with sharing it. It is as if the employer is looking for something because the company doesn’t trust what you wrote on your resume or what you said at your job interview. 

The image you’ve fostered thus crumbles when someone looks at all your laundry (be it dirty or not).

-- Emily Katz is a sophomore at Eugene Lang College of The New School in New York City.