Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Job seekers don’t have to be Facebook angels

If I had a nickel for every time someone advised myself and other job seekers to take down our Facebook pictures, I wouldn’t even need to look for a job.
Don’t get me wrong — I know social networking sites can spell trouble when people share too much. As a reporter, I used group memberships to find potential sources and delighted in finding cell phone numbers listed right on students’ profile pages. My aims may have been harmless, but there’s a very real threat posed by identity thieves with access to the same information.
I’ve even seen questionable material on a Facebook profile be used against a student charged with a crime. Turns out prosecutors have Facebook profiles, too.
With these concerns in mind, I made sure to never post my cell number or address and declined to join groups advertising I’d been involved in illegal activity (
Ohio State ‘05 field rushers, I’m looking at you.)
To satisfy my editors, I even washed my profile clean of any trace of a political affiliation. After all, working at a newspaper is a privilege, not a right.
There’s one thing, though, despite continued prodding by faculty members, I refuse to do. Nearly every weekend my friends post pictures of me where I can be seen at a bar or a party, sometimes (gasp!) holding a drink.
I will not be taking these pictures down.
First, there’s the practical argument. Even if I went through the arduous task of “un-tagging” myself from every photo, these photos would still exist online because I wasn’t the one who posted them. This leaves me with two unfavorable choices: avoiding ever being photographed or badgering my friends to remove every photo in which I’m pictured. Frankly, I have better things to do than play photo police.
Then, there’s the theoretical argument. You see, I’m not an alcoholic. I’m also more than a year older than the legal drinking age, so that margarita I’m holding isn’t so scandalous. Are there older pictures posted of me, as a 20-year-old, drinking? Probably — but I’ve never been cited for it and I challenge you to prove that was alcohol in my Solo cup.
Furthermore, I fail to see why future employers are so intent on hiring people who show no evidence of a social life. If you want to chain an employee to a cubicle for the rest of his or her natural life, I can see the justification. But if you ever want your new hire to charm a client at a business lunch, I’d suggest picking the kid who appears to have friends and weekend plans that don’t involve World of Warcraft.
This is Penn State, so a lot of us party, and most us know how to do so responsibly. Why should I have to hide the fact that I had fun in college in order to get a job when I graduate? If I have a pretty good resume and still went out every weekend, I see no reason to communicate otherwise to my future employer. That’s just false advertising.
Like most students, I learned nearly as much socially as I did academically in my time at Penn State. I’ve learned a lot from people I’ve talked to — drink in hand — at bars and parties and forged valuable connections. I value this in the same way I’ll value my hard-earned degree.
So, future employers, I hope you interpret my Facebook policy not as stubbornness, but as evidence of conviction. If you choose to peruse my profile, you’ll see a nuanced portrait of a real person — not a hastily diluted entry. This way, I can at least promise you honesty.


 

Posted by JImmy at 05:59:03 | Permalink | No Comments »

Tulare-area mother is an avid online game player

When Kathryne Martins isn’t working or parenting, she is killing monsters — in the game “World of Warcraft.”
When three of her kids were at her mother’s house the weekend of Thanksgiving, Martins and her husband, Fernando, played the game all day and night.
Martins not only plays World of Warcraft ( Buy wow gold ) for entertainment, but to alleviate stress by chatting and making new friends around the world.
“Everybody else goes to karaoke for all-nighters. [My husband and I] play ‘World of Warcraft,’ ” Martins said.
The Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3 and XBox 360 aren’t on her agenda.
For her it’s all about “WOW,” as gamers call it, on the PC.
Eight years ago, Martins, 37, got started on the multiplayer online game “Everquest,” which is similar to “WOW.”
“Later on, we kind of got bored with it because you couldn’t [play] solo. You had to go as a group,” she said.
Then “WOW” came out and Martins was hooked.
She was in a line of hundreds of people outside GameStop Nov. 12 to pick up the expansion for the game at its midnight release.
“We got there are 11:30 and there was already at least 100 people in front of us,” she said.
“The line moved real quickly,” she said. “I can’t believe how many gamers there are in
Tulare playing the game.”
Addictive game
The game is addicting, she said.
“Once you get started, you can’t stop,” she said. “The time flies by so quickly.”
She is at level 75 on the game. Her husband is at level 76. The highest a gamer can get is 80, she said. Martins said she is still learning the game even after four years of playing it.
People across the globe play “WOW.” She is friends online with many different types of people.
“I play with a guy in his 80s from Malaysia,” she said. “I am mostly a chatter. I love playing with my friends.”
Martins’ “guild,” or player group, has 53 people from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Florida, California, Malaysia, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
“If you are having a bad day [online] friends can cheer you up,” she said.
Her children have also gotten involved in the game.
“For being 7-years-old, [Tiani Martins] plays better than Mom,” she said.
Each of her children — Tiani, Kymber, 9, and Cassandra, 16, — has a computer to play the game, she said.
She does have a requirement for her children to play the game: they must keep up their grades.
“My daughter learned to spell and read from this game,” she said. “It’s a thinking game. I think it’s pretty educational.”
They have around a 3.05 grade-point average, she said.
Even though there is killing in the game, there is no blood and gore, she said.
Kymber said she thinks it’s cool that her mother is into the game.
“I like [the game] a lot,” she said.
And although her kids enjoy the game, the majority of her time on the game is spent on the weekends or at night when the kids are asleep, Martins said.
Martins doesn’t spend nearly as much time as others, she said.
“I am amazed at how time consuming it is,” she said. “I am barely level 74 and [many people I know] are at 80 and that’s what you call a no lifer, when you are at [level] 80 three days after the expansion.”
Those people have had to at least sit in front of the computer for three days straight with no sleep, she added.
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