Facing Facebook: The Reality of Life in a Virtual World Maria Mancusi, Janine Bowen, Courtney Dillon, Nelly Zorilla

Case Study: Stacy Snyder 25 year student teacher Posted this photo on MySpace with the caption “Drunken Pirate” The photo was considered “Unprofessional” and promoted “drinking in virtual view of her underage students” Millersville University denied her a teaching degree Conestoga Valley High School cited a passage in the teachers handbook that stated “all staff members are to be well groomed and appropriately dressed”

In Her Defense Snyder claimed that the university had violated her first amendment right by penalizing her for her (perfectly legal) after hours behavior In 2008 a federal district judge rejected the claim saying that “because Snyder was a public employee whose photo didn’t relate to matters of public concern, her Drunken Pirate post was not protected speech.”

A Recent Case prep-rally/maine-football-coach-resigns- accidentally-posting-naked-photo html prep-rally/maine-football-coach-resigns- accidentally-posting-naked-photo html

Facebook for Hire A recent survey by Microsoft shows that 75% of recruiters and human resource professionals report that their companies require them to do online research about candidates 70% of US recruiters report that they have rejected candidates because of information found online, such as photos and discussion board conversations and membership in controversial groups

Fired for Facebook Many companies are using the internet to snoop on their employees. “If you fail to maintain professional standards of conduct in your free time, you could lose your job” Poorly chosen words or even a single photograph posted online can have career altering consequences, even if the post is about off-hours activities.

Watch What You Post Lock down your profiles- Avoid “friending” anyone from work including coworkers or bosses Private messages are not private- Are discoverable in court Don’t trust Facebook- Been known for their privacy issues in the past. Avoid providing very personal information including DOB or religious affiliation Read your social media policy- Many companies are adding social media policies to their employee policy manuals. Mark Schonberger notes, “A society in which everything is recorded with forever tether us to all our past actions, making it impossible, in practice, to escape them.”

“Think B4 U Post” The European Union helped finance a campaign that urges young people to consider the potential consequences of publishing photos of themselves or their friends without thinking carefully or asking permission.

Closing Arguments What we do in our free time should be our business. We should have the freedom to make our decisions about how we spend our free time without having to worry about being penalized Employees should be conscious of what the decide to post on social networking sites, including photos and statuses Even though they are outside of the workplace, they are a representation of their company

Discussion Questions Do you think that there should be a law that prohibits employers from using social networks to judge employees or potential employees? Do you agree that you are a representation of the company you work for, even during off hours? Do you think that Facebook should increase privacy settings, for example, being able to set an expiration date for posts and pictures to be deleted and disappear?

Works Cited Miller-Merrell, Jessica. "4 Tips for Avioding Getting Fired for Facebook." SmartBlog on Social Media. N.p., January Web. 14 Feb Rosen, Jeffrey. "The Web Means the ENd of Forgetting." New York Times. July : n. page. Web. 16 Feb Strosse, Randall. "How to Lose Your Job on Your Own Tim." New York Times (2007): 3.3. ProQuest. Database. 9 Feb