Don’t Make That Face(book Profile)

It has long been mused that a facebook.com profile can say a lot about a student. From political affiliation, to favorite books, to choice quotes—to whether someone is interested in a night of “Random Play” or a more sober “Relationship”—the site provides easy access to the basic background of a student. But whereas until recently the facebook remained largely the domain of curious classmates, harrowing accounts of parents and potential employers perusing the site have begun to surface. Particularly with newer features that lessen a student’s control over what appears in their profile, it is important to realize that this is an inevitable reality of such a rapidly expanding website. It is time for students to be more careful about what they include about themselves as increased site accessibility means increased accountability. As a recent e-mail from the Office of Career Services (OCS) advised, “When in doubt, leave it out.”

While these concerns should not cause students to reduce their profiles to nothing more than bland biographical information or superficial résumés, a certain level of prudence, say, not featuring oneself chugging a bottle of champagne or doing a keg stand, would be wise. Being a member of “The Blackout Club” or “I Party My Liver Away All Over the World” might say something of a student’s character that seems funny to us college students, but which might scream something else to a potential employer. Keeping an eye on ever-embarrassing “Wall” posts would be worthwhile as well. But as the facebook continues to expand its array of features, it will likely only become more difficult to keep profiles at the preferred level of appropriateness.

In late October, a new feature appeared on the facebook fundamentally changing the level of control a student exercises over his or her online social profile. It came in the form of “My Photos,” and suddenly students could upload as many pictures as they pleased, stored away in online photo albums and open to public perusal. Enhanced with a simple “tagging” system, a feature that allows pictures to be labeled by the uploader to include the names of the photographed individuals, students can no longer rest assured that some most unfortunate snapshots won’t surface on this insanely popular website. Thankfully, the facebook offers a mechanism to “untag” pictures in case a student happens upon an unflattering or damning photograph, but it requires a bit more vigilance to sift through every picture that might come up under a simple search. We encourage students to be thoughtful as to what pictures they tag of their friends.

But for those still worried, as the OCS e-mail points out, the facebook does allow students to choose their desired privacy level. If a student is intent upon having a more unsavory online reputation, he or she should simply opt for a more exclusive level of privacy. While frustrating for those students who hate being denied access to any profile, it is a more reasonable option than risking looking foolish in front of prospective employers.

Students shouldn’t start to self-censor online profiles to the point of ridiculousness—a tendency that we wouldn’t put past many of the more politically-minded and wary Harvard students. The facebook is meant to be fun and helpful, and it can be; students must simply exercise some common sense. Students should also remember that employers are not ignorant of the fact that college kids go out, drink, and occasionally act immaturely. But we don’t have to advertise our more obnoxious behavior.