With the Web 2.0 craze currently being used as part of every day business, social networking sites are also being used as part of the recruitment process to work out what individuals are like prior to employing them and trying to identify if they are appropriate.
Some people are currently arguing against the use of social networking sites, such as, Myspace and Facebook, as they say it is invading individualís privacy and social lives. Some feel it is unfair to look at personal information on sites like this as it can almost be seen as being discriminatory. It is felt by some that certain information should not be used as part of the recruitment process and it means recruiters pre-judge individuals before meeting them.
Also, individuals who are outrageous, slightly crazy and stupid outside of work may in fact be totally different inside work; very intelligent, loyal and hardworking to any prospective employer. With this in mind, using social networking sites should be taken with a pinch of salt and not be used as the sole method for recruitment. The other confusion that could occur is people have the same name as others and people are judged on the wrong information.
On the other hand, it can however be a great way for employers to find and match candidates to their vacancies and build their talent pool. It can avoid recruiting individuals that they do not want in their organisation based on personality and interests.
What should you avoid?
- Talking about any criminal offences
- Talking about being fired from previous jobs
- Talking about your sex life and drunken antics
- Avoiding uploading too many indecent photos
- Using swear words
- Using outrageous, silly profile pictures
- Linking to inappropriate groups
- Using it at work as employers can see if you have been logging on in the day and think you may not be a reliable, hard working individual. 
What can you do?
Have two separate accounts ñ one personal one that is very hidden so only your friends can view things, making it unavailable to anyone and one professional one that can be used to network.
Make your profile professional keeping it as a networking tool ñ have one work email, add industry contacts, join work related networks and a profile photo.
Tweak your default settings. For example, on Facebook, visit ëmy privacyí and edit the information. It assumes you want to share all of your information with everyone. Change your profile so that is only viewable to ëonly my friendsí. Also change ëcontact emailsí and ëprofile featuresí. In Search, change this to ëonly my friendsí so you do not appear in everyoneís searches. You can turn the news and mini-feed off so this does not appear on the homepage. To encourage privacy for your friends, you can also change the friendís likes to ëonly my friendsí so not everyone can browse through them.
Myspace - recruitment friend or foe?
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