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It goes a little something like this... You go out for the evening with a few friends, the party's going really well, you have a few drinks - and before you know it, you're on the ferris wheel displaying your derriere to the world below. You could be unlucky enough to be snapped by the local newspaper photographer, which sees your rear end on the front page of tomorrow's paper with the caption "The London Brown Eye".

This newspaper, and your actions, are now public information, and theoretically at least you could be fired for your stunt. But let's suppose for a moment you managed to avoid the paparazzi, with the only evidence a few pictures on someone's mobile phone. A bit impressed with your antics, you upload the images to a social networking site of your choice. It might seem a bit more personal, but this too is now public information.

Anything an individual uploads to the internet can be considered public property. It can be viewed and disseminated by anyone, at any time. As a consequence, social networking pages are just as accessible and relevant to an employer or potential employer as a newspaper article, professional website, or public record. With Facebook soon releasing the capability for search engines such as Google to pick up and display their information, finding your web footprints has never been easier.

This information is valuable to a potential employer. Anyone can look good on a resume, and references don't always tell the whole truth (especially if they wanted to get rid of you anyway). Social networking sites, however, are all about the real you. What you do, who you know, where you go on a Saturday night. This, far more that your cover letter or your last boss, can tell them if you're likely to spread gossip, slack off, or show up hung over on Monday mornings.

It's not hard to maintain social networking pages which give a good impression. If you're ashamed of something or you've done something your parents wouldn't approve of, the evidence shouldn't be on the internet anyway. It's okay to be you, but it should be the better bits of you. Have a good look at your web presence - and if the real you turns out to be a drunkard with a habit of indecent exposure, maybe you should work on that first.

Learn more about this author, Shona K.
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