Facebooking Yourself Out of a Job?

NetworkWorld recently reported on the results of a survey regarding how IT professionals use social media. Not surprisingly, 82 percent said they use at least one social media site (Facebook being the most popular at almost 90 percent) and of the almost 20 percent who don't, more than half say it's because they don't have a need for it.

There is no shortage of stories about how people have been fired or not hired by misusing social media. A 2010 study by internet security firm Proofpoint found seven percent of large firms (1,000 or more employees) fired employees for violating social networking policies.

Although the Proofpoint study said 20 percent of the companies disciplined employees for violations, the surveyed reported by NetworkWorld said only three percent of the IT workers admitted they got into trouble for their posts on a social media site.

Surprisingly, about half of the IT workers said they would modify or delete content "if they knew a prospective employer was going to review their page as part of the interview process," according to NetworkWorld. Considering that one-third said they were approached about a job through a social media site, it may be time to double check those posts.

- Article provided by TechServe Alliance, Copyright, 2011