Students, teachers and administrators alike are all a-twitter about the teacher in Western Pennsylvania who was suspended for 30 days because of a photo on Facebook.
It seems that the teacher in question was photographed at a bridal shower having a good time with the hired entertainment. The photos, it appears, were posted on Facebook by someone else and not by the teacher.
Reader comments seem to fall into a few basic categories:
- Not guilty! The teacher did nothing wrong. When did school boards get so politically correct?
- Guilty! The teacher is wrong. Why didn't she know better?
- Who snitched! How did anyone find out? Who in the school district is trolling Facebook?
- It could be me! What do I have on Facebook that I need to remove?
This last question is something I discuss with job seekers all the time, especially pending college grads. Here is roughly the picture I paint:
You were hamming it up for the cameras at a frat party or you were getting your groove on during spring break at Hedonism, Jamaica. You get an email from a friend with all the photos or videos which are now making the rounds. You think it's cute. You don't right away assume the photos or videos will end up online. You make a mental note but you are a little afraid to ask the distributor to stop passing the photos around. Before you know it, the person who took the photos or videos, has graduated, transferred, dropped out or is just no longer your friend. You go left, they go right! Before you know it, employers are withdrawing job offers or you are suspended from your job. What will you do?
This issue is clearly here to stay and as social networking sites gain even more popularity; folks are getting more vigilant and guarding their online persona and image.
These kinds of scenarios are testing the boundaries of existing laws and in the mean time, many professionals are having their careers jeopardized.
If this article is any indication, you actually have limited control over where your image might end up and how others, like your employer, might react to it. It is impossible to get signed releases from everyone taking your photo. Nowadays, when every cell phone camera could be a career-crusher, one can't be too careful.
Read the article about the teacher here.
Also read - Job Hunting? Dust off your Online Persona
2 comments:
It's true, social networking websites are beginning to affect the way employers see their candidates; it's usually turns out for the worst. To remedy this situation, people who do have potential job-jeopardizing personal content on their public profiles should take the time to adjust their personal settings. For instance, on Facebook, you can decide who is able to view your profile and what information they are allowed to see. If you have a lot of festive photos of yourself at social functions and don't want them to be misinterpreted than you should only allow certain groups of people to see them and not just anyone who lands on your profile page. It could be a potential employer. That's how I found! Fortunately I was already hired but my boss came and told me to change my personal settings anyway. I was lucky.
This is great information and hopefully more people have understanding bosses who will at least give a chance to clean it up.
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