Cybervetting

Cybervetting is increasing in popularity and causing increasing concerns. Lori Andrews, author of "I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did: Social Networks and the Death of Privacy," argues that we should adopt a Social Network Constitution, to protect us from being judged by employers online.

 According to Andrews, "it should say that social networks are private spaces and that employers, schools and other institutions are prohibited from accessing social network pages or taking adverse actions against a person based on anything they post on a social network." I think some people would fully support this proposal, because they would be given the freedom to post anything without any consequences in their career world. 

However, I think this is a bit extreme. Social media sites do reflect who a person is, or who they want to be. Sometimes, posts and images can be interpreted out of context or taken the wrong way, or even be an extreme side of the person that isn't always true - such as partying. Employers should keep this in mind when viewing social media pages, but shouldn't solely judge the person based on it. At the same time, a social media network is a public place online - that's what is intended for and that's part of its use. If you don't want people to see a post or picture, make it private or don't put it up - it's as simple as that. Potential employers cannot see posts/pictures that are set to private, at all that takes is a change of a setting - not a constitution. If you aren't responsible enough to filter what the public sees or to hit a button that says private, I think employers have good reason not to hire you, as harsh as that sounds.