Facebook has not only become popular amongst students, but companies are checking in as well to get their first look at who their hiring.
“I have a friend that got denied a job because they felt he wasn’t mature enough after looking at his Facebook profile,” said UT senior Michael Bucciarelli. “He doesn’t have Facebook anymore because of that.”
Sigma Nu Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority had a table set up in Vaughn Lobby last week displaying a list of corporations that have Facebook. The list included Amazon, Apple, Gap, Intel, Microsoft, Pepsi, Teach for America and others.
“The Study Abroad Fair in Plant Hall actually has a spot for your Facebook name on their application,” said sorority President D’Asante Beneby.
“We want to let people know to be conscious and aware of what you post on MySpace and Facebook,” said sorority member Monquisa Johnson. “A couple of professors within my music major have looked at their student’s profile.”
Some UT students can even recall incidents from high school where their friends have gotten in trouble for their Facebook profiles.
“Our principal printed out pictures from some student’s pages,” said Sophomore Maria Bonavila. “They had alcohol in the pictures and one kid was smoking. The students got an in-school suspension.”
Facebook use to be a site for students only and now it seems as if their in steady competition with their rival MySpace. Just like MySpace, Facebook is open for everyone. Their homepage quotes, “It’s free and anyone can join.”
“My mass media professor has no idea of the extent of information that’s accessible through Facebook,” said UT freshman Zoe LeCain. “I’m writing my MIOP paper about the dangers of posting your personal information – phone numbers, address, dorm room number – on Facebook. There are still dangerous people out there that will misuse the information.”
The sorority members also had two forms at their table for students to pick-up that served as a guideline for points to remember and things students can ask themselves when creating a MySpace or Facebook profile.
Two of the most important points that the list mentioned were for people to remember that they can protect their page and the Spartan Code by taking advantage of the privacy options offered by both Facebook and MySpace.
