Imagine me rolling my hands over themselves like an evil scientist.. that's how I felt (and sort of what I did) when I read Startups Help Clean Up Online Reputations
In a nutshell the article is about how your online reputation effects your real-life reputation. For instance all your crazy college (or high school) partying pictures being found by a potential employer and due to that you are denied a job. Or... grounded by your mom.
The article also mentioned a few sites which focus on helping "the common man" clean up their online image, (not that I want to endorse them) but Reputation Defender and Naymz mostly through getting rid of not-so flattering pictures online.
Admittedly this is a brilliant idea for a web start-up, your client base is almost endless and it hasn't been done before. Perfect.
BUT...
And I sort of hinted at this in my last post with my quotes from Waking Life-- taking responsibility for oneself. For these individuals who want to present themselves as mature adults or "clean living folks" and use these sites to clean up their image, what about living the way you want to be perceived?
Is it fair to live a double life? Furthermore is it honest? I'm not sure.
Recently I found pictures on facebook of a girl who I've known for a very long time, probably since she was a baby, she's underage and the pictures were of her drinking (in dorms nonetheless) and kissing and messing around with girls (she's not gay as far as I know). I thought those actions were things you were supposed to keep under raps, at least until you were legal to do so. Have we become too proud of the "deviant" things we do?
Before myspace and facebook and similar sites, were pictures being taken of the 'crazy' high school and college parties? Was it necessary since the pictures weren't traveling elsewhere?
And my last question of the day:
If we all are trying to clean up our online image will we eventually stop posting pictures everywhere? And end the need for those reputation fixing websites?
EDIT: A little birdie told me a few days ago that facebook is going to implement a feature to segment your profile. From what I heard there will be a "family" "friends" and "co-workers" version that you can create and label people in your network as. Perhaps that will solve some of the problems people are having with these sites as the first users of them grow up and start monitoring their ... employees, nieces, nephews, children etc.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
John Q Public -- Double Agent
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5 comments:
I completely agree with what you said about "cleaning up" identities being a brilliant idea. I do think, however, that unless it's something particularly graphic or offensive (like, wearing a skirt above the ankle or wearing a shirt that exposes the shoulders) then employers shouldn't snoop around employees/potential employees personal habits.
Displaying people crucifying another person for heresy is ok. I would also think that pictures showing people beating others for working on Sunday is ok too.
But seriously, I find it kind of interesting that companies would take such am interest at their employees. Well, I guess if they were a public person who could be in a position to hurt the company should dirty images of them be published but regular employees? That seems a bit drastic.
I guess it depends on what job you're looking to get.
Maybe some jobs it doesn't matter what you do at night or on the weekends.
But if you're, maybe a teacher or something similar you may want to make sure your employee isn't doing anything that they may tell the children about or influence them with.
As you know I'm a nosy person in general so if I were the employer I'd be doing this research regardless.
I think the real problem here is that people don't understand the power and pervasiveness of the internet. Habits of college students and party mongers haven't changed that much in the last 30 years. What has changed is the availability of an instantaneous mass communication tool for mediums like pictures, videos, and text. It's the implementation of this incredible framework we call the internet that has really caught people by surprise, I think.
It's the lack of respect for phrases like "everyone on the internet can see these pictures" and "your membership in that joke club 'orgy organization' will be permanently saved on google cache." I don't think we've gotten any more risque as a generation than the last, it's just become more out in the open.
The other problem I see is that people may want to clean up their image on the Internet but as much as you'd think that would open their eyes to the lifestyle they lead, it's not changing their mindset. People want to live one life and put on the airs that they have entirely different life. In that respect I think services will always have a market.
I think living that "double life" is completly normal. The important part (and the part your potential employer might be worried about) is your ability to "function" properly aside of enjoying yourself.
That said, I do agree it isn't very clever to post your crazy and illegal activities on the web, open for everyone to see.
Bottom line... Have fun, but keep it discrete :-)
I also agree with you about "Cleaning up" identities. You are however a most exceptional young woman. You have maturity beyond your years. People your age don't think before they act. If they knew their pictures from college and highschool would influence their job prospects later, perhaps they'd pass on the photo but never the actions.
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