In his capacity as a private attorney, I say "big deal" because people can choose to hire his dumb ass or not hire his dumb ass. In his capacity as a judge he needs to comprehend that he plays a much different role and needs to reassure all parties that his dumb ass is indeed neutral and impartial. Also, if he wants a MySpace for his dumb ass friends etc. he can set it to private.
Imagician said:
There is a trend in Australia for employers to search out potential employees on sites like myspace to see what sort of person their candidates "really are". I have a huge problem with this for a number of reasons; there are plenty of people who are capable of keeping their professional and social/private lives separate, who are fantastic at their jobs but might be into "alternative" things that have no impact on their job. And yes, I know there is a "private profile" function but that's not the point.
Having a potential employer find out, for example, that a person identifies as gay or bi-sexual on their myspace could seriously hinder a person's chances of getting the job. Or what if you are, say, a teacher and a potential employer found Suicide Girls and discovers you in a photo set sans clothing? You might argue that there's nothing wrong with it, the photos are tasteful and artistic, but chances are they aren't going to hire you to teach their children. It's the same principle.
I agree with the theory that peoples private/professional and such are there own business. THis brings back the incident with ms new jersey recently in my head. Some things are not meant for the whole of society to dig in. Running a criminal background check is one thing...checking to see if someone has fun away from work like acting silly with their partner ;gay/straight/bi or otherwise is seperate.. We are supposed to have freedom..ours is being fought for..as we speak...The govt has all but put tracking devices in our asses these days...what next..employers outfit their employees to make sure they have NO LIFE outside of the job!?
I have two. One that is very vanilla. The other can only be viewed by friends.
Also, a local cop almost lost his job for refering to himself as a ninja on his Myspace. He did not mention he was a cop. Or that he worked for a city. Stupid shit.
cklarock
Lawrence, KS
August 2004
AUG 16, 2007 11:57 AM