The Lockerroom
This is a the place to discuss the site, community issues, discuss ideas for opinions, and other things related to the community but not specifically about sports. You can add something to the locker room by clicking the link.
Should Internet Activities & Social Networking Be Subject to Disclosure for Jobs?
I am aware that this discussion has very little to do with sports but everything to do with social networking, message boards, posting comments on websites, blog activity, etc. etc. etc.
From the Bozeman Montana Local News:
As part of routine background checks, the city asks job applicants to provide their usernames and passwords for their social-networking sites. And it has been doing it for years, city officials said.
“Please list any and all, current personal or business Web sites, Web pages or memberships on any Internet-based chat rooms, social clubs or forums, to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube.com, MySpace, etc.,” states a city waiver form applicants are asked to sign. Three lines are provided for applicants to list log-in information for each site.
Source: http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2009/06/19/news/10socialnetworking.txt
In my opinion, this is an invasion of privacy, no different than reading one's private mail, overhearing a wire tapped telephone conversation and other nonsense that has alarmingly been permitted to erode away at our individual freedom and rights.
For me personally, I'm self-employed and its highly doubtful that I'll be filling out a job application for a city desk job in Bozeman, Montana. But what if this should become a more acceptable standard question required by other cities? Or perhaps even state or federal government jobs? As the private sector job market continues to shrink, more and more people are looking for employment opportunity within government. And I would think that this would also apply to young college graduates (I read somewhere that more and more grads are looking to head to Washington for opportunity rather than Wall Street).
Simply put, do you feel it would be fair to be denied a job because of a posting here at ArmchairGM that traced back to you?
An interesting question indeed.
What do you think?
