Friend me?
For better or for worse, social networking sites take professional contacts to a more personal levelBy Ashley Gurbal, agurbal@altoonamirror.com
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Fact Box
Who's clicking who - by the numbers
More than 150 million users
The average user has 120 friends
More than 3 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day worldwide
More than 15 million users update their status at least once each day
More than 35 million members in 200 countries
A new member joins LinkedIn approximately every second, and about half of the members are outside the U.S.
Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members
One glance at a coworker's Facebook profile can reveal tidbits you never considered.
Taste in music. Favorite books. Activities. Interests. Drunken Halloween photos. What they were doing at 9:13 p.m. Thursday.
But how much is too much? When does social networking cross the line from a friendly connection to way too much information? Researchers at Penn State University Park's Media Effects Research Laboratory have examined social networking Web sites and human interaction in several studies over the last few years.
''In general, people want to know as much as possible about the other person, when you ask them in surveys,'' said S. Shyam Sundar, professor and the laboratory's co-director. ''The more information they're given about someone, in the experiments we've done on this - when we give them more information, it's negatively affected that person whose information was disclosed.''
Different social networking sites have different standards, Sundar said. Face-book, which was exclusively for college students in the beginning, is largely considered a social site; LinkedIn is for professional contacts.
''There's an appropriateness expected of you,'' he said. ''If you put holiday vacation photos on LinkedIn, that would not be considered very appropriate. If on Facebook, you write about what consulting offers you might have, that 'I'm ready and willing to consult on this project' ... those are not the kinds of things posted on Face-book.''
There's also MySpace, which Sundar said started as more of a publicity venue for musicians.
''The non-college crowd and music crowd defined what MySpace is,'' Sundar said. ''And it has a big population, but it's not particularly talked about in conversations about social networking sites that are making waves.''
Facebook is the networking site of choice for Adrienne Weyandt, 26, of Altoona. Weyandt is the business development coordinator at the Blair County Chamber of Commerce and the director of the chamber's Growth and Relationships of Young Professionals group.
Her profile includes a list of her activities and favorite books and a photo with her fiance and little else. She said she's "picky" about about who she friends - she keeps business and social contacts separate.
She said she doesn't think less of those who do share more personal information - especially because she loves to read it.
"It's because we're nosy," she said with a laugh as she scrolled through photos from her best friend's bachelorette party. "But who I am to judge? I didn't post that photo, and I wouldn't have posted that photo, but if somebody else did, I'd say, 'Oh, my God,' but that's about it."
Your friends' opinions aside, though, remember that potential employers can stumble upon your profile. In one study, Sundar and his students surveyed human resources professionals, who said they wouldn't be affected by what they saw on a candidate's Facebook.
But when they were shown the profiles, the professionals ''were indeed pretty affected, and they were less likely to hire somebody who was in compromising positions in photos,'' Sundar said.
Altoona Regional Health System, which employs 2,600 people in the area, doesn't have any policies regarding social networking sites and doesn't use them in recruitment or hiring, said Gary Naugle, ARHS senior vice president of human resources.
Naugle said he couldn't comment on how ARHS would handle inappropriate content on an employee's online profile, because it would fall under ''off-duty misconduct.'' Those cases, he said, are handled on an individual basis.
''But from an employer's perspective, I think someone can put too much out there,'' Naugle said. ''I think they're opening themselves up to the potential of harassment or stalking.''
Similarly, social networking is covered by Internet usage and professional conduct policies at Altoona Area School District, which employs 1,500 people, said Tom Bradley, director of public relations. Social networking, he said, is discussed extensively during technology orientation for new teachers.
''I think most of the younger employees are so used to using these sites through college,'' Bradley said, ''and they just need to be alerted that it's a whole new ball game when they're an employee of a school district.''
Dr. Vince DiLeo, principal at Logan Elementary School, leads the discussion. DiLeo said he advises teachers to be "ultra sensitive" about what they post online - he's heard of cases in other districts in which inappropriate communication has led to termination.
Even seemingly innocuous content - hobby or wedding photos, for example - should be posted with caution, DiLeo said.
"It's always a cautionary thing," he said, "Do you want to open up things like that? Say I'm a student, and you gave me a bad grade, and now I can go online and see things about your personal life - am I able to use that against you?"
So, you know better than to post the photos of yourself dressed as Baby New Year. But what about your passion for vintage guitars? Or when you update your status that you're making lasagna for dinner?
''Strategic self-disclosure is the name of the game,'' Sundar said, "and impression management is what we are all learning very quickly how to do. ... Colleagues and other stakeholders are likely to see more aspects of your personality if you friend them through social networking. It's up to you decide which of those aspects are worth sharing with them.''
Mirror Staff Writer Ashley Gurbal is at 946-7435.
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Patience
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02-08-09 12:09 PM
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Notice the bottom of the article page where it says "Share." The first option is "facebook." That says it all, don't you think?
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Patience
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02-08-09 10:15 AM
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First, I would like to clarify that Human Resources professionals do not make the hiring decisions, management does. HR facilitates identifying "qualified candidates" and provides guidance when it comes to the recruiting process and relevant legislation affecting the hiring process. A facebook page would not typically be a turn off if it is presented appropriately. But, employers need to be careful about what resources they utilize in evaluating a candidate's qualifications. Wandering into areas without having secured written permission to do so during the application process can lead a company right into a law suit. So the flip side is "buyer beware."
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