An article I read this week, has me once again questioning the value-add worth of social networking site Facebook, in society.

Now, Facebook has been discussed previously on this blog. This certainly isn’t the first time that I’ve suspected Facebook to have been given more than due credit for its social networking capabilities, but this article shows just how far-reaching Facebook really is.

Facebook-stalking or ‘creeping’ is nothing new to the avid user. By now, I’m sure you’ve successfully stalked a ton of people on Facebook: people you go to school with, old friends you’ve lost touch with, people you work with, that cute guy from class… of course you have. And while, in any other context this level of stalking would be deserving of a restraining order, granting semi-strangers access to personal information seems to be half of Facebook’s purpose. You’ve probably also heard that many employers have been using Facebook as an alternative way of screening you, too.

I don’t really have too much of a problem with potential employers jumping on Facebook to conduct social background checks. There are privacy settings that can be adjusted to filter the information readily available to unknown facebook-ers. And really, it’s a risk-taker who readily posts pictures or videos of themselves that could jeopardize a job prospect. People have even lost their jobs over Facebook!

My suggestion: during job hunting (at least), take down or un-tag any incriminating pictures and tighten-up your privacy settings so as not to expose any information you wouldn’t readily reveal during an interview. You can be sure that potential employers will make good use of this social profiling tool to determine whether or not you are the type of person they’d want working for them. Be sure that, if you’re in the job market, your Facebook profile reflects the professional ‘brand’ you’re going for.

This might be old news to you. What I really wanted to get at in this entry is the ease in which total strangers can pull up an overwhelming amount of personal information about you on the web. The author of the article mentioned above boasts being able to construct an extensive biography of a 17-year-old girl he has never met. Address, cell phone number, map to her work, even information about her boyfriend and pictures of her and her friends in a hot tub came up in his search in which he used nothing more than public sites such as Facebook, Google Maps and Canada411.com. Effectively illustrating the fine art of the ‘creep’, the author cautions online social networkers to the amount of information that is readily available for any stranger’s perusal.

If you’re at all concerned about how much of your personal life is out there on the web, do what you can to control how much of your personal life appears on social networking sites and blogs. Take a look at your privacy settings, take down some of those pictures from last weekend’s kegger, re-think that embarrassing blog entry about your latest romance and clean up your online image! Then again, if you’re looking to improve your e-stalking capabilities, check out Stalkerati and Internet Address Book. Sites like these are a creeper’s best friend!

Happy surfing!