---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2013 21:35:39 -0400 From: Angela Penn <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: if wikipedia is problematic, then what do we think about library employers who google their candidates? Because this is the era of social networking cites, many organizations use google to check out potential job candidates in an attempt to find out additional information about them. It is not a violation of privacy. The information more than likely will be viewed on the applicants facebook page or twitter account. Unlike the majority of privacy violations the information is voluntarily placed on the social media cite by the applicant without coercion. The managers do not have to resort to surreptitious means to find this information. The information is for public consumption there for all visitors to see. If the information is of a nature that users do not feel comfortable sharing with an employer or others, it is best to choose who can see specific parts of an individual?s profile by employing privacy settings. Privacy settings enable users to control who sees the information they have shared, as well as who can find them in searches. Managers may not want to disclose that they use google to check out perspective applicants or seek legal counsel prior to doing so. This practice may be considered a violation of labor laws. Just as certain questions are not permissible during an interview, this may fall into that gray area of what is and is not permissible during hiring. I once submitted an application to work for an organization that my husband worked for. Because we had different last names they did not know we were related. He said that the office manager was passing my resume around to the other workers to read. Because none of them knew me, they tried to google me. Their search was unsuccessful because I did not have a facebook page. I did not get an interview or the job, could it be because I did not have a facebook page?