Facebook – Social Naiveity?

Without trying to insult or offend Facebook users or people in general, I’d like to raise the issue of social naivety. Posting quiz results or photos for instance shows a image, however I find it troubling that people go to the extent of taking quizes either out of obligation, or to prove to themselves or others the image that they find ideal. For instance, many users post a multitude of personal information with no regard as to the negative consequences. Pictures of parties (dry or not) would be the most obvious example for outsiders, profile information combined with pictures would only act as a reason for negative stereotypes to be built against individuals despite their actual nature.

However another reason, to reconsider such practice would be to consider that companies are beginning to check Facebook and Myspace profile pages [1-3]. Regardless of the persons actual character, companies have begun to access personal information to determine applicant qualities and characteristics, but the goal of this post isn’t to take a side in the moral argument which follows, but rather to appeal to Facebook users to simply self-censor. I’m also interested in what users thoughts are, do you take care in what you post online, or not mind?

Further Readings

1. Gregory Wolfe, The Cornell Daily Sun. Watch What You Put On Facebook.
2. Janelle Godfrey, MSDN Blog. Will Myspace/Facebook hurt your dreams of landing a great job Microsoft and other companies?
3. CBS News. Employers Look At Facebook Too.
4. Wayne State University, School of Business Administration. Facebook & Myspace Usage.