Facebook raises job questions

After College of Communication professor Michael Gee was fired this summer after posting inappropriate comments on an online blog, Boston University students are reevaluating what information to include on their Facebook.com profiles for the eyes of potential employers and administrators.

"I'd be worried for discrimination," School of Management sophomore Anna Kotlarz said. "The face you put on for your peers is different than the face you'd put on for an employer, just like the clothes you'd wear for an interview are different than the clothes you'd wear to a club."

Kotlarz said the prospect of school officials or employers looking at a Facebook profile counteracts the network's founding principles.

"That's not the purpose of Facebook," she said. "It's more for peer evaluation. Granted it is online, but just because it's accessible doesn't mean it should be accessible to professors and employers."

College of Arts and Sciences junior Aimee Schefano said she faced this kind of problem while working as a Student Advisor during this summer's freshman orientation program.

Brian Sirman, the Student Residence Life director at the Residences at 10 Buick St., said he worked at orientation and spoke to SAs in the program about their Facebook profile. Although he said he did not force SAs to change their profiles, his speech encouraged "people to think about what other people might infer about them as student leaders" if they post certain information.

Schefano said she and most other SAs complied and edited their profiles for the summer months by either changing their pictures or taking out references to alcohol or drugs.

"It didn't really bother me," she said. "When school started and I no longer had an obligation to the school, I put back up certain quotes." Even though many SAs like Schefano followed suit, Schefano said the request to censor their profiles upset some students.

"It freaked people out because although they didn't say they were singling out profiles, it became evident that they had been looking through some people's profiles," she said. "You don't expect administrators to do that."

Sirman said that because Facebook profiles are on the internet, all information posted in students' profiles is "fair game" for employers or school administrators.

"A misconception a lot of students have is that their profiles will only be viewed by their peers, but that's not necessarily the case," he said, comparing Facebook profiles to internet blogs.

"At BU we had a COM professor who posted information on a blog about a student and was fired after Rob Zelnick heard about it," Sirman said in reference to the dismissal of Gee last summer after he called a student "incredibly hot" on the internet message board Sportsjournalists.com.

Director of Orientation Craig Mack also said SAs were never formally asked to change their Facebook profiles, but said students were told some information they post "may be inappropriate."

"It gives the impression that this kind of inappropriate behavior is tolerated at the university or tolerated in everyday community life," he said, citing "inappropriate language, inappropriate attire and inappropriate behavior" as general problem areas.

Despite the profile changes, Schefano said she does not think incoming freshman were affected by what older students printed in their profiles.

"I don't think it matters in the least," she said. "I don't think anyone was offended by it."

CAS sophomore Robin Lagorio said although she chooses not to post personal information to "avoid creepy people," she does not think other people should feel forced to limit their profiles.

"It's fine to advertise any of your interests," she said, adding that employers that choose to view students' profiles "can't hold any of it against you."

Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences sophomore Joe Camisa said puts his cell phone number and screen name on his Facebook profile, but said he is aware of the possible consequences of posting personal information.

"If you put that information on your profile, you deserve to be penalized," he said.

Although the Facebook is a public forum for anyone with a college-related email address and password, the site under the tab My Privacy allows users to block themselves from faculty and staff searching for their account or viewing their profiles within their university.

CAS sophomore Sarah Russo said the practice is a "biased way to evaluate your employees" and said student's profiles do not necessarily reflect their true personality.

"Even if it's not on Facebook, it doesn't mean they don't do it," she said of listed illegal activities, such as drinking alcohol or smoking marijuana.

CAS freshman Steve Henrick, who has personal information on his profile, said he doesn't "feel threatened at all" about anyone misusing it.

"It's a way to meet people," he said. "It's good to have it out there." Henrick said profiles are not a good indicator of employee potential.

"That's not what Facebook was designed for," he said. "Your profile is different than a résumé. You shouldn't have to make one look like the other."

School of Hospitality Administration junior Katie Reda said aside from profiles hindering students' employment opportunities, it could also hurt prospective college students' opportunity of college admission.

"They don't want troublemakers coming in the school," she said in reference to Facebook's new high school version. "There are some people who have everything on [profiles]. You're not expecting administrators to look at it."

CAS senior Dan Schmitt said he doesn't have a Facebook profile because "it's a big waste of time."

"If you don't want someone to know something, don't put it online," he said. "It would be good if the creators of Facebook could make it so that only friends could look at it, but I don't know how you would enforce that," he said. "That's one reason I don't do it. Employers could check [my profile]."