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[Lulu_Jane]

Sounds like a plan to me Senor Darthulon

[Doink]

Originally Posted by RRS

But what benefits are from the script we're talking on Abandonia (listing people) ? I'm already visiting Abandonia when I see it, so... ? Am I to discover some famous people among site's fans (say, Peter Molyneux)? Wouldn't simple "like" button suffice?.

Its a very effective piece of advertising a simple button or banner gets lost, we basically tend to ignore it after we get used to it, this script is constantly changing and therefore draws the eye every time. Its not about the people displayed its just that the changing of profile pictures displayed brings attention.

[The Fifth Horseman]

Am I to discover some famous people among site's fans (say, Peter Molyneux)?

I won't say no. You'd be quite surprised at times.

[Japo]

Originally Posted by Eagle of Fire

That's also why they try to claim that it is safe and morally acceptable to join those sites: that's where the money's at.

What? Don't tell me you didn't see this coming. Everything can be justified if money is hanging at the end of the road.

Wait, what? So it's not that you dislike social networks personally, you think they're unethical? Now I fail to even see your point...

[Lulu_Jane]

Originally Posted by The Fifth Horseman

I won't say no. You'd be quite surprised at times.

We've some pretty cool industry folks following on Twitter

[Eagle of Fire]

Wait, what? So it's not that you dislike social networks personally, you think they're unethical? Now I fail to even see your point...

Originally Posted by RSS

Few years back, in myspace days, my American buddies were saying employers shun people with social network accounts.

Not only were they shunned, they were also pretty much suddenly on the rope and close to being fired if this was found out and you were working in a job with any access to a computer because it was treated like a compulsion, an addiction. And this was really only logical. Very logical.

The last time I did a job with one of my boss being in front of a computer, he didn't do squat but the bare minimum, chatting on Facebook almost day in day out either on his designated computer or his smart phone. And of course he would have been a tremendously better job if he payed more attention to what was going on around him (like a boss is supposed to!) instead of losing his time in this way.

This is only a quick example I got out in half a second... But right now, as RSS said, the trend is reversed. More because of the mass use of those sites than the real benefits: employers have no choice than to capitalize on these because so many of their employees use it. So much that it become a signing bonus if the employer is willing to let go with this negative aspect.

Also, who mentioned unethical? You, not me. I see it more like an addiction akin to drinking power drinks... Another problem which will eventually blow up in everybody's face sooner or later.

[Japo]

Nothing has reversed. I don't know what industry you're in, even for someone who were in PR and whose job were to post in corporate social networks, his boss would assess if his work was good for the company, or just having fun.

As for the 99% who aren't in PR, "Everything you say can and will be used against you." Since when few people were in social networks, headhunters and prospective bosses have always searched job applicants' names in Google and whatnot, to learn what they can. It so happens that nowadays social networks are a very normal thing that many normal people use, and your boss may reach the conclusion that you're not ineligible, even if he finds some online profile of you, go figure. But if you post photos of yourself drunk every week, you won't be hired. Headhunters have always, and continue to prefer, applicants whom they can learn something about because they're acquittances direct or indirect, ever and before online social networks existed; hiring a complete unknown person is more of a gamble.

As for LinkedIn and professional use of any social network, there's nothing new. Back in the 20th century you actually had to travel to a convention of your industry to meet people to help your job or your career. Nowadays you can do it online. Just like further back you had to write letters, put them into an envelope, mail them in a box, and wait a week.

[Eagle of Fire]

I don't know where you live Japo but I'm not creating this out of thin air. This is really how it worked and now work.

Maybe you mean high end jobs. I'm talking about normal people, and normal people don't have a BMW and don't earn 60000$ a year. For normal people, doing normal jobs, putting the box you are carrying down to check on your phone for text message is really going to get you fired fast.

Beside, how could your future boss find information about you on Facebook if he's not already one of your friends? If it is actually possible to find sensitive information on your FB account like you suggest then it only goes in the same direction I was taking earlier, which rather help my point rather than dismiss it.

[Japo]

I don't earn 60k either (let's hope some day we will), and I didn't say at any point that I check my smartphone while working, I would be liable to the same discipline that the guys who carry boxes, and I don't even have, or want, a smartphone. For the sake of clarity, I do not use any social network at work, not even LinkedIn, which I have personally more like in case it's useful to find a better job.

As for Facebook, it so happens that you can choose to make any piece of content you post there public for all to see, just like you can make it visible only to friends, or to friends of friends. If this turns against someone, that's why I said that "everything you say can and will be used against you", and it's a Darwin Award for him. And I do not disagree that most Facebook users may be oblivious of how visible what they post can be over time--but it's their damn business, not mine.

[Eagle of Fire]

Well, I don't know where you want to bring this to now then. I too am not interested in the least in smartphones and my initial argument was revolving around people who have a job in which you actually need a computer.

As for Facebook policies, I know them well. I do have a Facebook account like I already said... But not with my real name. And they changed their layout again lately, and it's really getting on my nerves since those changes are only aesthetic in nature but prevent me from doing what I want to do before I find out where is where now...