Should Employers Use Personal Information Found on the World Wide Web Against You?

Should employers use Personal Information found on the World Wide Web against you?

Many people reveal a remarkable amount of information about themselves on social-networking sites, also called blogs. Websites like My Space or Face Book allow you to customize your own personal web page with information about your family and friends. You can post just about anything to your web page. Pictures, videos, music, banners, and cartoons are just a few of the things you can post on these websites. You can these social-networking websites search function to find personal websites of others. Should current or prospective employers us information found on sites like these against you. In my opinion, they should not. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and one should not be punished for it.

23-year-old Allison Martin, who lives in suburban Chicago states: "There is a freedom in it. Since the people who read my blog are friends or acquaintances of mine, my philosophy is to be totally honest -- whether it's about how uncomfortable my panty hose are or my opinions about First Amendment law."

Some are finding that putting one's life online can have a price. A few people, for instance, have been fired for writing about work on personal online journals. And Maya Marcel-Keyes, daughter of conservative politician Alan Keyes, provided personal details online when her discussions about becoming a lesbian became an issue during her father's recent run for a U.S. Senate seat in Illinois. He made anti-gay statements during the campaign.

Tim DeMello, CEO of Ziggs, estimates over 20% of employers are secretly scanning online profiles before they interview applicants. When asked if he personally scanned online profiles of canidates, he said, " Absolutely. Everybody does it. When they come in, they are buttoned up. Their resume is polished. Their clothing is meticulous. This person that is sitting there is almost an entirely different person, than the person that is described in the profile in one of these websites." Many employers admit that they know how to access profiles that some feel are private. And they are surprised that they don't care if everyone knows everything about them. What many people don't realize that all those party snapshots of them will leave foot prints. Foot prints that will