Originally Posted by
rekmeyata
...
And I'm not sure why my presence on Facebook, Twitter, Linklin, etc has anything to do with increasing my odds to be hired, ....
Again, I don't know: but I have heard that company's do investigate an applicant's online life on Facebook, Twitter and who knows what else???? But, just like checking references, that takes time and money and it won't be done unless they are serious about hiring that person.
But, I would suspect those investigations are similar to criminal record and child molestation background checks: they are only used to screen out undesireables. That is, they will never work in your favor, but they can argue against you...
... So, Cranky could be in MAJOR trouble here: What if the investigate BF and he "Outed" him as a cyclist? Could be bad....
... But, more seriously, Cranky did talk about his potential health issues. They actually could discover more about him than he may care to reveal to a prospective employer... We should always assume that ANYTHING we do online will become public knowledge. Organizations exist with the sole purpose of mining personal data from the internet -- and others will mine it directly off of your PC or smart phone. Not to sound paranoid but: Somebody is tracking your every click...
... As somebody pointed out in a prior thread: We have arrived at 1984 and Big Brother is watching you! From Wikipedia:
Big Brother is a fictional character in
George Orwell's novel
Nineteen Eighty-Four. He is the enigmatic dictator of
Oceania, a
totalitarian state taken to its utmost logical consequence – where the ruling Party wields total power for its own sake over the inhabitants.
In the society that Orwell describes, everyone is under complete
surveillance by the authorities, mainly by
telescreens. The people are constantly reminded of this by the phrase "Big Brother is watching you", which is the core "truth" of the propaganda system in this state.
Since the publication of
Nineteen Eighty-Four, the term "Big Brother" has entered the
lexicon as a synonym for abuse of government power, particularly in respect to
civil liberties, often specifically related to
mass surveillance.
No, Big Brother is not (necessarily) part of the government. But there is reason why the internet is "free"...
... You don't pay for it with you wallet -- but with your privacy.