If you check my blog regularly I am humbled by the fact that you would choose to read my words and sad because this post  will be the second to last of any on Another Day On Facebook. Please, oh please, dry those tears for I do not deserve them seeing as this post is definitely a day late. Again, I am humbled by the number of people who love this blog even though I created it a mere month ago.

The reason’s for Another Day On Facebook ending will be listed later in another post but now it is UPDATE TIME!!!!!!!! (If you want to read the inital post where I detail how Facebook privacy settings are being rendered useless visit this link)

Let’s get right into this by bringing the people up to speed who are too lazy to click the link above.

RECAP TIME!!!!!!!!!!

According to sources, now verified for the University of Florida, it is becoming regular practice for the employment sector of corporations/institutions to essentially bypass all Facebook privacy settings through the following means.

The Followings Means: The corporation/institution will call individuals in for an interview and the first thing they will do is hand the potential hirer a laptop and say “Log into your Facebook, and explain your pictures.”  (If you want to see how UF student’s reacted to this practice visit this link. It is hilarious so don’t be lazy -_- ) Recap officially over.

UPDATE TIME!!!!!!!!!!

When I heard this I immediately contacted the University of Florida to ask them why, to whom, and exactly how. Unfortunately, they did not respond to me in time and so the first post, of which this is the update of, went up without word from the University. Fortunately, yesterday I got a hold of somebody and we had an enlightening, almost magical, talk about this practice and I learned oh so much.

The Enlightening, almost Magical, Talk That Made Me Learn Oh So Much: The gentleman I spoke with is a professor at the University of Florida who teaches a class on the revolution of the internet/social media and how it affects our daily lives. At the beginning of the interview he pulled out books on the subject and cited a study about how businesses are using social media  to screen hires. At the end of this research, where businesses such as Coca Cola and Amazon.com responded, it was apparent that major corporations, not just Universities, intended to use social media to the fullest.  Some going as far as friending potential hires on Facebook. (For the  full study visit NACE)

When I asked him for an example of this at the University he, without hesitation, responded by telling me of Excelsior a program that offers tours at UF. Apparently, on the second or third round of interviews this program conducts the aforementioned practice. He told me that the logic behind this was that UF and Excelsior cannot have individuals who are of questionable character because they are representing the school to prospective students. If they say or do something wrong/offensive they could deter the potential freshman from enrolling.

In the end he made it clear that the University of Florida has no remorse for this practice and apparently neither do major corporations. They need to find out who they are actually hiring and if they will be an asset or a liability. For all those out there who feel as if this is a severe breach of privacy, remember that these major corporations also conduct more in-depth and extensive background checks.