> Because you can be fired for it? Because it might expose politics that a
> company would rather not have. so if you're a job candiate you're SOL.
> Just the other day, on Bitch Ph.D, I read a woman gloating that she
> googled candidates. And, best of all, because you can be sued for what
> you say.
>
> There are strange people out there. Years ago, one of them tried to get
> me and another guy fired, and he called Doug at home and reamed it out
> on his answering machine. Asked Doug to call him back and asked that he
> not divulge his phone number.
>
> Like I said: weird.
>
> And some dipshits on the list wonder why some us don't post our photos.
Amen. I never posted photos of myself, since I'm camera shy. Unfortunately, I probably should have adopted an anonymous net personality ten years agao and stuck with it.
I've concluded that my online activities have prevented me from getting several jobs. In a way, that's good because it probably keeps me out of a miserable job situation. It has entrenched my poverty and forces me to find new ways to pay the bills.
But you touch on a broader problem, which is that divulging too much personal information online gives material to all of the assholes who use the Internet. I could write a book on all of the cyberstalkers, online assholes, character assassins, and wingnuts I've dealt with. The worst are the level-headed comrades who engage in behavior against other comrades that they would never get away with in real life.
Last year a colleague of mine in the library profession said some stupid, shitty things about me in a public forum. Like many people, he attacked me with ad hominim attacks instead of arguing against my points. Unlike the numerous anonymous cowards in activism who get away with anonymous sniping, my friend signed his name to the attacks on me. Given that he is an elected leader in our circles, some of his colleagues informed him of his serious error. This prompted him to make a public apology to me.
This is one reason why people need to refrain from personal attacks online. You may think you are making a small diss of somebody, but when some employer finds that comment while searching a person's name and doesn't understand the context, that will cost that person a job.
So, before you trash somebody reputation in order to win a cheap debate point, consider that your actions could have serious ramifications for the other person. Like employment, paying the bills, supporting children, etc.
Chuck