Social Networking: Protect your Privacy
Social networking websites like Facebook and MySpace may be fun, but they can also compromise your privacy. In fact, university officials and prospective employers have been known to scan these sites.
Here are a few helpful hints when using social networking sites.
Be very careful what you put online. If you have posted a Facebook or MySpace page, those whom you don’t want to read your profile may be able to access it, even if you think no one will bother reading it. Don't post anything on your page that you don't want a prospective employer, university official, or even your parents to read.
Know your privacy options. Make sure your account is private, so only your friends can have access to it. Also if you have a Facebook page, consider turning off the newsfeed option which turns postings from your site into customized headlines for those searching your page. See the privacy options on Facebook or MySpace for more information.
Be careful what you link your resumé to. One jobseeker was eliminated from a job search, because her MySpace blog included the sentence “I lie on my resumé all of the time.”
Not everyone online has your best interests in mind. The web is a haven for scam artists and predators. Just about anything posted on the web can be accessed by someone or a group of people. This could include those whom you don’t want to disclose your personal information to.
Caching. Even if you delete questionable content from your page, it may still be accessible in the form of a cache, a type of temporary storage area for data. Nothing digital ever goes away.
Bibliography
Note: The following articles may be found online through Ebsco Academic Premier at http://library.louisville.edu. If you wish to aceess these articles from off campus you must enter your ULINK ID and password
"
A Week of Change at Facebook, as It Expands Its Membership" By Read, Brock.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/22/2006, Vol. 53 Issue 5, pA35
Popular
online social networking portal Facebook has recently dropped the requirement
that all users have a valid college e-mail address to register. This move could
alienate Facebook's core audience and may also further compromise the privacy of
users
"...and,
After a Redesign, Facebook Hastily Offers New Privacy Protections " By
Henig, Samantha. Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/22/2006, Vol. 53 Issue 5,
pA35
After negative feedback from users concerned about their privacy
Facebook has given users the option of turning off the News-Feed and Mini-Feed
features. These features keep track of all changes made on users' pages and the
News-Feed presents the changes in the form of a news headline. Many users
complained that these new features were "stalkerish", prompting the changes
"
I Need MySpace" By McDermott, Irene E. Searcher, Apr2006, Vol. 14 Issue 4,
p22-25
Presents information on MySpace as well as other social networking
portal sites such as Friendster, Facebook and Xanga.com. Discuses the
differences between the sites and also communicates the negative implications
that blogging on these sites can have on a person's career or job search.
"
Totally wireless on campus" By Sharon Jayson. USA Today,
10/03/2006
Today's college students are highly dependent on wireless
technology and are fascinated with social networking sites such as Facebook and
MySpace. Many students are neglecting their academic responsibilities in order
to network with friends online and may not realize they could be compromising
their security while networking.
"
What you say online could haunt you" By Janet Kornblum and Mary Beth
Marklein, USA Today, 03/ 09/2006
University administrators are increasingly
disciplining students whose MySpace and Facebook pages feature violations of
school conduct codes.
Websites
These websites offer specific tips for users to make their social networking pages more private and secure.
- http://www.newschool.edu/studentservices/health/facebook_tips.aspx
- http://www.nclnet.org/technology/social_networking.htm
- http://myspacesafetytips.com
