Week 5 EOC: Social Networks and Job Hunting

As a hardcore advocate of user privacy, I find that Facebook has now become merely a database for personal information ready to be handed to companies, agencies, groups, and organizations for the right amount of money. Although I do believe that Facebook has now become a cursed blessing. It is a curse because of the former statement in which Facebook has been rumored to be selling information from its users to advertisers in order to target better their consumers. But, it is also a blessing for many professionals who find themselves out of luck and with no jobs. In Wall Street Journal’s Article Recruiters Troll Facebook for Candidates They Like it says that Facebook has now become one of the leading, but unofficial, job boards that many companies who are hiring turn to. “The majority of social-media traffic to Waste Management Inc.'s careers website comes from Facebook, beating out LinkedIn, said Jenny DeVaughn, manager of social media and employment branding. The Houston-based environmental services company is currently trying to fill 1,500 positions—from software developers to garbage truck drivers.” (Job Recruiters Turn to Facebook to Find Candidates - WSJ.com). Many Facebook users do not find this method of recruiting a comfortable nor pleasing one. “Indeed, Jeff Vijungco, vice president of world-wide talent acquisition for Adobe Systems Inc., said that in focus groups, prospective job candidates were sharply averse to being contacted through Facebook for jobs.” (Job Recruiters Turn to Facebook to Find Candidates - WSJ.com). People now find it difficult to truly have a personal and private life that does not interrupt their professional life with the changing and growing digital world. Many users of this social network now find themselves trying to truly make their private life a lot more private. Now, they feel that Facebook is in no way a means to connect with family friends, it has now become a peeping hole to your life for the whole world to see, even your employers. Creepy, isn’t it?