Be careful what you share online, lesson 436

Will Head writes…

You know that REALLY funny picture you posted on your MySpace page – you know, the one where you’re drunk, wearing very little and doing things you shouldn’t with a traffic cone? You do know that might come back to bite you on the arse later in life, don’t you?

With just a little bit of Google and the odd bit of basic social network detective work any prospective employer could track down said image and, after seeing it, reconsider whether they want to take you on or not.

Now, they’re hardly likely to come out and tell you as much, but even if they’re just umming and ahhing over who to short list then it’s going to push them towards the “not for us” pile.

Stacy Snyder, however, didn’t even get the job application stage before photographic evidence shared on her MySpace page started causing her problems.

Snyder, while a student at Millersville University, posted a picture called with the title “Drunken Pirate” which showed her wearing a pirate hat and sipping from a plastic cup. Nothing that depraved, but enough to upset the University board which withheld her teaching degree as it felt she was promoting underage drinking.

She was awarded an English degree instead, but it’s not much consolation when you’ve always dreamed of being a teacher. Snyder is currently in the process of suing the University for $75,000 in damages.

So, if you’re applying for a new job or approaching the end of university, now might be a good time to rifle through your profile and remove any images that might show you in a bad light. Either that, or don’t post them online for the world to see in the first place.