"We Myspace-ed her...."

As popular applications like Facebook and Myspace become more and more popular, many people, including myself, are questioning whether they are beneficial or harmful to the audiences that use them.

It seems as though they can be both. For instance, I recently overheard a conservation at a well known clothing boutique about the search for new hires. The associates were talking amongst themselves about the candidates for the job. One of the young women said, "I myspace-ed her, and she said she was unsure of her sexual preference and 5'5, more to love!" Personally, I laughed out loud. I know a lot of people, including some of my closest friends, who put things like that on their pages for fun; the point being that only friends have an interest in viewing their page. However, that's not the case anymore.

Now that job candidates can be "screened" before even an initial interview, it is obvious that these internet societies are a benefit to employers, not employees. What is on your Facebook page could seriously harm your chances of getting a job, whether you would be an awesome employee or not. This also resembles a type of "Myspace discrimination," if you will, but that's an entirely different post.

In short, while many of us think that Facebook and Myspace are just for fun, be careful of what you display yourself to be on the internet. This applies not only for jobs, but for any random people (i.e. internet predators) that may come across your page. I recommend making your page private, so that only your friends can view it. Then you can have whatever or whomever you want sprawled on your page and not have to worry about any negative effects.