I know what you did last night…
Features Editor Charlotte Sivvery takes a look at the potential pitfalls of living by the (face)book.
“SOUNDS LIKE you had a great time in Dublin!” exclaims a girl off my course I barely know. At first I’m confused - I have no recollection of a conversation with this girl in which I mentioned my weekend away.
Then of course I realise: Facebook. Once upon a time it was considered a bit strange to track the movements of other people, especially if you didn’t know them very well. Now, it seems to be considered perfectly normal thanks to social networking sites. Just a few years ago, the idea of a computer database which catalogued your entire social network and personal details and which the general public could access would have sounded like something out of 1984. “It really freaks me out when people know stuff about me that I haven’t told them,” says Mia, a third year.
If we are honest, Facebook is turning us into a nation of cyber-stalkers. Finding out information about an ex used to mean grilling friends for tit bits of gossip or bumping into them in Tesco with their new partner. Now all you have to do is type their name into the Facebook search engine and their entire personal life is at your fingertips. “I don’t speak to my ex anymore, but I do like to know what he’s up to” says Leri. “Every now and then I have a quick glance at his profile just to see if he’s got a new girlfriend and have a look through his photos”.
This may sound like bunny boiler stuff, but many of us are doing it. In a recent poll, 39 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds admitted searching for an 'ex' on the site. I suspect this figure would be far higher amongst students.
Whilst it may be slightly irritating to think that your ex may have been spying on you, there can be far more serious consequences of plastering your private life on the web. Employers frequently search sites such as Myspace, Bebo and Facebook to get a bit more information about someone who has applied for a job, so you might want to think more carefully about what you include in your profile. Pictures of yourself eating a kebab alongside an ‘about me’ section in which you declare that you ‘like being lazy and getting wasted’ are unlikely to impress a potential boss.
What may seem like an innocent bit of fun or a flippant joke between friends can be taken very seriously by employers. Young tennis star Naomi Broady found herself dropped from the LTA after information that she posted on Bebo was deemed unprofessional by the organisation. In another recent case, top ranking police officer Chris Dreyfus was publicly humiliated after dubious comments from his Facebook page were splashed across the tabloid press.
After reading this story, I had a flick through all the information, comments and pictures I had published and deleted anything that could cause the slightest embarrassment. Gone were the ‘filthbook’ and ‘naughty gift’ applications, along with any photos involving either aftershock or kebabs. As a result, my profile now looks rather bare, but I now sleep soundly.
There are of course other serious risks involved with displaying personal information on the internet. Details like date of birth and home address can be used to commit identity fraud.
We are currently coming to the time of year when many people have assessed essays to hand in, which means that many students are likely to need to use the IT facilities in the library. Lunchtime on Blue 1 and 2 usually sees a significant queue of students waiting to use computers. It seems a bit ridiculous then, when we realise that half of the students logged on are actually checking their Facebook - not writing essays or reading journals.
As the Facebook phenomenon grows, employers have been quick to realise the affects of social networking sites on their business. A recent report claimed that such sites are costing employers a staggering £130m a day. The survey, conducted by a leading UK law firm, shows that 233 million hours are lost every month while employees are surfing the net. As a result, some businesses have banned the sites and have started using software that monitors and records everything employees do on their computer and the Internet.
“I signed up to Facebook, got addicted in two days and then bam! It got banned at work. I was gutted,” says Liz. Banning Facebook on university computers would no doubt cause uproar amongst students, though maybe it would be the best thing for our degrees. “I always check my Facebook before I do anything else on a computer, even if I have an essay to do” says Becky. “Before I know it I’ve spent over an hour changing my status, updating my profile picture and challenging my friends’ Zombies!”
Being a member of Facebook can, of course, have its advantages. “Last week I heard from this girl I met in my gap year but had lost touch with,” says Mia. “She remembered my surname and found me on Facebook. We are meeting up for a re-union next month!” Stories like this show that Facebook can be a fantastic way of keeping in touch with friends and contacts. It’s also useful for arranging events and nights out. “I’m terrible with organisation,” says Sophie. “If it wasn’t for Facebook, my 21st birthday party would probably never have happened!” It seems, that the minority who don’t use the site could be at a terrible social disadvantage. “I didn’t sign up for ages because it’s not really my thing,” says Sian, “but then I found out I was missing out on loads of parties because all the invites were sent out over Facebook!”
It may have started off as a university student’s thing, but as more people sign up, it is becoming apparent that Facebook is more than just a fad (many Conservative MPs now have profiles). It seems that social networking is here to stay- we have to accept it as a part of modern life. The key to safe Facebooking is simply to be careful about what personal information you include and to choose your privacy settings sensibly. At this stage, leaving Facebook forever would probably be harder than flying to the moon.
well said! facebook has ruined us all!