Facebook Profile Conundrum

[TikiTaka18]

Hi guys,

This has probably not been asked on here before - I had a brief look using the search function but could not find any relevant posts - so here goes:

I made a FB account around 2010/2011 and have had that same account since. During this time, I shared many posts/jokes/images with friends and so on (you get the picture), but I am afraid that some of this content may be deemed highly inappropriate and could affect my reputation.

I have thought about deactivating my current FB and opening up a new one where I will have more control over the information that is presented to my friends as it seems like a tedious process to go back and check my current FB to make amendments; plus, I may miss something.

I am by no means a bad person, but as a teen, I was far less aware of myself and to an extent, I am afraid of the current social climate (e.g. cancel culture) as I may suffer severe consequences down the line for things I said/posted years ago (which at the time would've been perceived differently to now).

What does the TCLA community think? Has anyone run into this conundrum before?

 

[Jacob Miller]

Hi guys,

This has probably not been asked on here before - I had a brief look using the search function but could not find any relevant posts - so here goes:

I made a FB account around 2010/2011 and have had that same account since. During this time, I shared many posts/jokes/images with friends and so on (you get the picture), but I am afraid that some of this content may be deemed highly inappropriate and could affect my reputation.

I have thought about deactivating my current FB and opening up a new one where I will have more control over the information that is presented to my friends as it seems like a tedious process to go back and check my current FB to make amendments; plus, I may miss something.

I am by no means a bad person, but as a teen, I was far less aware of myself and to an extent, I am afraid of the current social climate (e.g. cancel culture) as I may suffer severe consequences down the line for things I said/posted years ago (which at the time would've been perceived differently to now).

What does the TCLA community think? Has anyone run into this conundrum before?

This is a really interesting issue - I think it's likely to result in a whole manner of opinions. @Jessica Booker would possibly be well-placed to advise from a grad rec perspective.

My opinion is, from a grad rec perspective, you'll not have a problem. They have much, much better things to do with their time than hunt for a facebook profile and try and scroll through to find some post from a decade ago!

If you're worried that people on your friends list may take something out of context/ put you in a situation as described, I can only advise that you go through your Facebook and delete old entries manually. For what it's worth, I personally keep my Facebook security settings locked down really quite tightly - not because I particularly have anything to hide, merely because I don't really use it any more. I keep my Insta public, but my granny follows me so I wouldn't post anything that I wouldn't want her seeing anyway 😂😂

Erasing your profile and starting a new one is definitely more convenient, though.

From a personal perspective, I am (and would advise everyone to be) highly conscious of what they put on social media now. Equally, though, it isn't pragmatic to ignore the fact that the world has changed massively and things which were acceptable even five years ago (rightly or wrongly) and no longer acceptable in the present day. Always better to be cautious, and also just generally removing material like that from the internet is only ever going to be a good thing: educating ourselves and recognising when we've maybe shared material, in good faith, which could now be considered inappropriate, is important and a worthwhile journey.

 

[Jessica Booker]

Ultimately it depends what you posted. Anything highly questionable such as racism could come back to haunt you. Not necessarily in a recruitment process but just more generally.

Easiest thing to do is to change your name on your profile. Common things to do are use middle names, abbreviations or initials, or use any of the following letters in your name instead âëįòùŵŷšłžçñ. Change your profile picture to something that isn’t you too.

Also attach your profile to a different email address/telephone number rather than what you use to apply to jobs.

Doing any of the above will generally make you very difficult/impossible to find anyway unless your name is so distinct name. Easiest way is to google search yourself and see what comes up.

Even then though, people have got to take responsibility for their actions no matter when they happened. If you are ultimately ashamed and don't want to be associated with social media content in any manner, then remove it. You put it in the public domain at some point, so you need to take ownership of it. Unlike if you had gone out in public and someone filmed you saying something, at least you have got the chance to delete it.

I wouldn’t worry about things that are you just having a life (eg pictures of you drunk, messing about, bikini pictures etc), it’s more the things where you have been abusive to others or tried to harm others through social media content that I would always be concerned about, or obviously any illegal activity.

 

[Jacob Miller]

Ultimately it depends what you posted. Anything highly questionable such as racism could come back to haunt you. Not necessarily in a recruitment process but just more generally.

Easiest thing to do is to change your name on your profile. Common things to do are use middle names, abbreviations or initials, or use any of the following letters in your name instead âëįòùŵŷšłžçñ. Change your profile picture to something that isn’t you too.

Also attach your profile to a different email address/telephone number rather than what you use to apply to jobs.

Doing any of the above will generally make you very difficult/impossible to find anyway unless your name is so distinct name. Easiest way is to google search yourself and see what comes up.

Even then though, people have got to take responsibility for their actions no matter when they happened. If you are ultimately ashamed and don't want to be associated with social media content in any manner, then remove it. You put it in the public domain at some point, so you need to take ownership of it. Unlike if you had gone out in public and someone filmed you saying something, at least you have got the chance to delete it.

I wouldn’t worry about things that are you just having a life (eg pictures of you drunk, messing about, bikini pictures etc), it’s more the things where you have been abusive to others or tried to harm others through social media content that I would always be concerned about, or obviously any illegal activity.

Just took your advice and googled myself, Jess... apparently I'm a rather talented reggae artist!

 

[Jessica Booker]

Just took your advice and googled myself, Jess... apparently I'm a rather talented reggae artist!

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I recommend also some key word searches like your university or home town just in case that makes you easier to find!.

My searches come up as a now deceased B movies actress in the states but also after my parents thought I had quite a unique name, there are a fair amount of Jessica Booker's in the world! Although when I search, TCLA comes up and my old firm photo from Freshfields, and then finally my LinkedIn account. None of my social media comes up due to my security settings and where I don't use my name.

 

[Jaysen]

I'm jealous of you guys - my real name is unfortunately completely unique (barring one guy on a genealogy website who died in the 14th centory). Google my name, and the very first result is my linkedin! The second is my Twitter (on private mode), and the third is an article about my university mentioning me, etc etc.

Me too!

 

[Matt_96]

Whenever I read the FT, there's this one American policy wonk who always gets quoted who has the exact same first name, last name and nickname as me. It's weirdly off putting - it's like I'm reading myself knowledgeably discussing the latest machinations of the Biden Administration!