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No

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If an employer wants to know who they are hiring, they should at least be required to get consent by the person they are looking into. Company's are not even allowed to do back ground checks without you first signing the form which acknowledges that you are aware and are giving your consent for them to look into your past. Myspace, Facebook and youtube are all the same things.

I believe that what a person does in his/her spare time when they are not punching the clock is just that, personal time. It's not up to your boss to determine what is appropriate and what's not. And who exactly can determine that? We all are allowed to express ourselves and yet people still keep looking for reasons not to hire you or to get rid of you. It's not like the good old days when people needed specific reasons to let you go from a job, either because your not doing your job or you keep screwing up. Now they want to get rid of you because of your opinions.

We all take responsibility when it comes to this new age. On myspace, you can set your profile to private, where not just anyone can view it. And if you are writing things down that could be detrimental, then you probably should re-evaluate what message you are sending. While everyone is entitled to opinions, your are also opening yourself up to scrutiny. And if you can't handle that maybe you should keep your thoughts to yourself.

I don't believe that anyone, including my boss should be able to dictate what I am able to do when I am not at work. I don't look at myspace while at my job, and therefore I don't think that it should apply to my work ability. As long as I am doing my job and doing it according to the standards they have set forth I don't think they should be able to hurt me because of something I wrote in a blog, as long as that blog does not directly influence my work or my job.

I don't write anything anywhere that violates my code of ethics, nor do I say anything negative about the place that I work. If someone is bashing their job online, they need to either quit their job and find something new, or be prepared to answer for what they are saying. We have the freedom of speech ladies and gentlemen but no one ever said our words don't come with a price.

Learn more about this author, Melissa Crossley.
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