Getting Fired Because of Facebook

Today I read an article titled "5 Ways You Can Lose a Job on Facebook" by Sara Yin. It included a witty infographic about how employers use Facebook to both hire and fire individuals. You can read the article in its entirety here.


It brought to light many important points, many of which have been well-known for some time. It listed bad-mouthing bosses, inappropriate photos, racist or discriminatory posts, and excessive drug and alcohol content as popular reasons for losing a job or a chance at being hired.


But what I found most startling and a more prominent ethical issue was the fact that employers judge the friends you have on Facebook against you. If you have any friends who post questionable content and especially if they share it on your page, you might be at risk for losing your job or not getting one at all. It is actually a better idea to have fewer friends and a smaller network of people who maintain job-friendly pages even though this seems counter intuitive to Facebook trends.


While admittedly this might say something about your character because you have a connection to these people, it should be noted that Facebook calls everyone from acquaintances to family members your friends. There is not clear way of judging how close you consider your Facebook friends, and it doesn't seem fair that employers base some of their hiring practices off of the presumption that you might be as sketchy as some of your friends are.


Many of my Facebook friends are in college and are not the most careful about what types of things they post. Should I have to delete all of these people for fear of being accused of participating in the same type of lifestyle? It hardly seems fair.


While there are some Facebook activities that are undoubtedly reckless and distasteful to employers, there is still a large gray area. What content is fair game for judgement? How critical is this information in terms of hiring, especially if it doesn't affect job performance or company reputation? As Facebook and social networking continues to evolve, so will company hiring practices. Perhaps the most important thing companies can do is state their expectations and requirements for job eligibility.