How Much Information Will You Share?

Today there is a large issue with Social Networking interfering with people seeking employment. Some companies are using social networks to screen candidates applying for jobs. Of the companies who use social networks 29% of them use Facebook to find information on people. I found this source from Consumer Affairs.
So who is on Facebook? EVERYONE! That's exaggerating a little, but there are a lot of people who use Facebook and other social networking sites. As of July 15, 2009 Mark Zuckerberg (the creator of Facebook) announced that there were 250 million people using his site, and that number has only grown since then. I can only think of a few of my friends who do not have a Facebook, and I can even think of family members who have Facebook. The age range on Facebook is varied as well. My younger brother who is 16 has one as well as my grandma who is 75!


Facebook can be entertaining and sometimes a good way to communicate with others. However I am always careful as to what pictures I am putting up or what I say on the internet. It can be a controversial site not only with companies using it to screen you but also with relationships or family members. There are privacy settings which I use, while others may choose not to. Only certain people can see pictures I am tagged in or things that I am saying to others. You can control what you put on Facebook, nobody forces you to put up a picture or say something inappropriate on there, and if you don't want people to see certain things, DON'T PUT IT ONLINE.

Companies want there employees to represent them, and they feel that they can get information on there employees through social networks. I just got an internship at a company and in the interview I was asked if I had a Facebook and knew how to use it because that company uses a similar form of networking. So being able to use this form of social networking worked to my advantage. It is not always a bad thing to have a Facebook, you just have to be careful as to what information you are willing to put on the internet about yourself.

So should companies even be able to use social networks to dig up dirt on people or in a positive way to see how well people can use social networking? How much information do you put up about yourself on the internet?

In Response to Dale Aubin:

There is nothing more annoying than a boring presentation, I absolutely agree. We have all been in a class where the presentation drags on and on, and you find yourself trying to stay awake.The first of the five presentation skills given is key. PowerPoint presentations when not done or used correctly can be incredibly boring. When there are too many words you don't even need the speaker you can just read the PowerPoint to yourself and get the same information. Only a few words on a PowerPoint help give emphasis to the presentation, but doesn's completely take over. In one of my classes my professor uses Prezi. Prezi is a different form of PowerPoint that is  less linear and makes it a little more exciting to watch. It has the same functions as PowerPoint but it is able to glide from one destination to another and seems a little more interactive. The second point is not to make the presentation boring which I think connects to the first point as well. There's nothing worse than sitting through a boring presentation, or a boring PowerPoint!

Using the Four P's to Market Yourself

The marketing mix consists of four activities that a firm can control to meet the needs of customers within its target market. Similarly you can you the marketing mix in order to market yourself to your 'target job'. The four activities or the four P's are product, place, promotion, and price.

Product- It is easy to think of yourself as a product. You have specific qualities that a 'buyer' or an employer may be looking for. Marketing yourself as a product would include selling yourself as a future high quality employee. Also as a product you may be able to offer an assortment of skills. Having an education, previous work experience, references that show you are a high quality product would all help in marketing yourself to a potential job.

Place- This could be the actual physical placement of yourself to the job location. If you are close to the job that would make it easier for you to get to work if inclement weather or any other circumstances. Also selling your 'place' could include reliable transportation you may have to get to the job.

Promotion-Promotion is used to inform buyers of what they are getting. Anytime you are applying to a job you are trying to sell or promote yourself to your potential future employer. You can promote yourself by a clean and professional appearance, being on time to the interview, having a good personality that will fit to the job you are applying to, and by making a good first impression.

Price- Employers compensate their workers. Therefore if you were to be hired at a job you would cost a price to that job. Placing emphasis that the employer will get a great value in hiring you and that you will be able to offer the job a great amount for their money would be the best way to use price to your advantage in getting a job.

Marketing, Advertising, and Propaganda

Before exploring the differences between marketing, advertising and propaganda, I had assumed that they were, for the most part, the same thing. I have found that marketing, advertising, and propaganda are related in some ways, yet they also differ. 

Marketing seems to be a more broad term, which could encompass both advertising and propaganda. Marketing controls different business activities which have to do with the selling of something. Not only is marketing a part of ‘getting the word out’ about a product, it also has to do with the pricing, selling, and distributing products/services and ideas. When talking about advertising and propaganda marketing would seem to encompass both of these.

Advertising is the message that is being sent in order to sell something such as a commercial or a billboard. To me it is the segment of marketing that actually gets the word out to people of what is being sold. I think of billboards or commercials when I think of advertisements. For example, the advertisement from McDonalds shown below.

 Propaganda is similar to advertising in that it is also trying to get the word out to sell a product or service. However, propaganda is given more of a negative connotation. Propaganda can also be used to make another product or service look bad. When I think of propaganda I think of its place in the political world. Propaganda is used in politics in order to make certain political candidates look bad, and ultimately selling other candidates.