As many authors already know, in order to convince an
audience of one idea being better than another, there must be evidence of some
kind presented in the argument. The author of the article, “Why Facebook is bad
for you” presents four supporting ideas to back up their argument of Facebook
being bad. The first supporting detail the author puts forth is, “Employers
don’t want to take risks with employees. One way they can find out who they’re
hiring is by checking their Facebook page. Recent research by an American
university found 23 percent of employers reviewed candidates’ profiles on
social networking sites.” While the percentage of employers reviewing
candidates’ profiles on social networking sites could not be verified per se,
an article uploaded to the news website, the Huffington Post, on April 20, 2012,
states, “A new study says 37 percent of employers use Facebook to pre-screen
applicants”, therefore verifying the idea that some employers may us Facebook
to pre-screen applicants.
The second supporting detail presented by the author of
article is stated as, "There have also been a number of cases of people being
fired for criticizing their employer on Facebook. One incident in Britain
involved a worker who wrote “I Work At Argos And Can’t Wait To Leave Because
It’s S**t” and was promptly sacked." Evidence reinforcing the second
supporting detail is found in the form of another Huffington
Post article uploaded on May 24, 2011, which states that "The National
Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced today that it has filed a complaint
alleging that a Chicago-area car dealership wrongfully fired an employee after
he posted commentary critical of the company on his Facebook page. The
complaint is the latest in a string of moves by the labor board indicating that
it wants to clarify workers' rights when it comes to Facebook and labor
law." Furthermore, Coane & Associates, Immigration and Employment Law
Attorneys posted
a Facebook note on Sunday, January 30, 2011 backing up the idea that
employers may legally fire their employees for Facebook posts, by stating,
"Many employees think that they are protected by “freedom of speech” found
in the First Amendment to the Constitution. This may be true if your employer
is a government agency, however, the first amendment does not otherwise apply
to non-government employers. If you work for a big corporation or a small
company, they CAN fire you if you criticize them on Facebook or elsewhere.”
Next, the third supporting detail found in the article is
when the authors states, “Other institutions have also used Facebook. Oxford
University last year used the site to help discipline students for chucking
flour and eggs around as part of their post-exam celebrations." Sustaining
the of third supporting detail, an
article uploaded to The Guardian, yet another news website, on July 17th, 2007
comments on the Oxford-Facebook situation, "The joy of putting your favorite
photos on Facebook took a sinister turn when an Oxford student was caught
breaking university rules after posting a picture of herself covered in foam”.
Finally, the author of the article, “Why Facebook is bad for
you” concludes their discussion with the statement, “People should consider
what information they are letting out about themselves and to whom. Even if you
think you have secured your pages through Facebook, the data may be accessible
through other routes like Google.” The warning of personal Facebook information
be accessible through search engines such as Google certainly provides food for
thought; however if an individual were to type "Philip Defraco+facebooK" into
the Google search engine, they would easily discover the first link to be Philp Defranco's main Facebook
profile. One might believe this proves the author’s final supporting detail;
however, if I were to input my own name and “+Facebook” into the Google search
engine (while logged out of Facebook), I would be unable to find my own
Facebook profile or any links leading to my personal Facebook information
(possibly due to the fact that I constantly monitor who I allow to view
personal information uploaded to Facebook).
Notes:
Evidence supporting the first supporting detail was found by typing, “Employers look at Facebook” into the Google search engine and viewing the fourth link.
Evidence supporting the first supporting detail was found by typing, “Employers look at Facebook” into the Google search engine and viewing the fourth link.
Evidence supporting the second supporting detail was found
by typing, “Employee fired for criticizing on Facebook” into the Google search
engine and viewing the second link, and typing, “Can I be fired for criticizing
my employer on Facebook” into the Google search engine and viewing the second
link.
Evidence supporting the third supporting detail was found by
searching, “Oxford University+Discipline+Egg+Facebook” into the Google search
engine and viewing the third link.
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