The reality is that if someone really wants to find out something about you they probably will.

As more and more of our lives shift online, the walls between our personal and professional personas will continue to disintegrate. I used to have the opinion that FB was strictly for friends and family, Linkedin for professional stuff and Twitter for a bit of both, but gave that up because I was starting to juggle too many new connections that were overlapping across different platforms. Now, I treat my social media presence is more or less an open book (but relevant to the space e.g. Linkedin) except for the aspects of my life that I would prefer to keep offline entirely.

If you're concerned that something you put up on FB might come back to haunt you when looking for a job, then the answer is simple. Don't put it on there!

With so many risks involved with hiring, it would irresponsible for a business not to use all the tools at their disposal to do their due diligence and be sure that their new recruit is the right fit and not going to potentially cause them embarassment down the track. The best thing you can do is be aware of this at all times and make sure you are always in control of your personal brand.

Mal Chia
www.malchia.com

Excellent advice and perspective Mal, thanks for sharing

Hey everyone, thanks for your comments on this point - as you say, it's really interesting to see how contentious it is.
A couple of things come to mind my side:

Firstly, *everyone* is behind the curve on this, including Facebook themselves, who are riding this enormous tsunamis and are having to try and create a privacy framework for 350 million members on an open platform, on-the-fly. There is just no way for any platform owner, individual or corporate /brand to predict what can happen next, and so everyone is operating therefore in a 'frontier' environment where - often under the moniker of 'experimentation' - almost anything goes.

Secondly, I was at #Media140 panel when @iboy basically said that the whole private vs. public debate was basically over, and that everyone may as well kiss goodbye to the idea of privacy as previous generations understood it. I think what he meant was that - through our connections and advocacy, you will always be connected to someone you trust, who will in turn be connected to a brand they trust and - through that 'trust network' - that brand will therefore get its message to you: whether that's a product, a job opportunity, or a fundraising appeal.

It's going to be interesting to watch. Right now, for individuals, as Sarah notes it’s about understanding and using the privacy tools on offer. For brands, it's about acting with Respect and Authenticity - see our forthcoming blog on this issue, in terms of how we advise clients in these areas.

Interesting to see how polarising this issue is based on the split of comments.

I wonder if the culture of an organisation has a role to play - if it is a corporate culture where employees / employers socialise and behave as 'friends' in the real world then is this type of interaction more accepted in an online world?

Those who are savvy with their privacy settings might also be able to ensure they are still able to have 'good old fashioned interaction with your friends' as alconcalcia puts it, whilst still allowing potential employers the opportunity to determine if a person will fit into their organisation - a vitally important point Ed raised.

I agree. business personalities and private lives should remain separate. I am one of those people how have nothing to hide, but I certainly wouldn't want to be judged based on my online persona.

I joined Facebook solely as a quick and easy way to stay in touch with family and friends. It is much faster to utilize one main source to post a message than it is to send mulitple emails and, subsequently, open multiple replies. This should put a (+) in the evaluation of my Time Management. However, the intent was, and will always be, to separate my personal and professional life. I won't ask my employer to provide a personal breakdown of what is happening in his/her family, just as I would assume my employer wouldn't appreciate me dragging my family woes or rejoices into the job. An employer that relies on snap comments to evaluate a potential employee and has the naive thought that this is an accurate accounting of an individuals 'fit into their environment' really needs to hone his/her interviewing process and skills.

Obviously qualifications/skills are not enough. Employers need to know whether the person will fit into the organization. Facebook and other social networking platforms can really help in this.

Personally I am very much of the opinion that Facebook is for family and friends. I don't think anyone should be judged by how they come across on a medium which is essentially about having a chat with your mates. It's tantamount to spying on someone in their private life. I would hope that if this is the way ahead then every Facebook user would still have the option to choose to be seen by everyone or just their connections. It's not that they might have anything to hide but rather they don't want to be judged by how they interact with their mates or by the personal issues that might be going on in their lives that are not really the business of a potential employer.

Some might want to brand themselves on Facebook and see it as an additional opportunity, but surely Linkedin is the medium for branding yourself as an employee, not Facebook? Why does every social medium have to be intruded upon by employers anyway? What next, butting in on someone's IM chat on MSN or AOL? Will there be no hiding place for the good old fashioned interaction with your friends?