Alcohol and Social Networking Sites: A Dangerous Combination for Students

The phrase, “Don’t drink and dial,” has long been a part of the college student vernacular, a warning to friends to avoid making indiscriminate and ill-advised phone calls while intoxicated. With the booming popularity of social networking Web sites like Facebook and MySpace, this phrase is increasingly being replaced with, “Don’t drink and post,” which refers not only to sending embarrassing messages to others, but also to posting photos, stories, comments, and videos of risqué behavior to their online profiles. This “digital dirt” includes such behaviors as underage drinking, drinking in residence halls, drug use, sexual activities, nudity, vandalism, hazing, etc.

These drunken Internet exploits frequently result in public embarrassment, judicial sanctions, firings, break-ups, expulsions, dismissals from athletic teams, closing Greek chapters, and arrests. Screenshots of profiles or “photo albums” are sometimes saved by other students and distributed publicly, or officials will conduct searches of these sites based on tips they receive.

For example, at the California State University, Chico, two Associated Students presidential candidates removed beer pong pictures and profanity-laced text from their online profiles after the student-run newspaper published an article about the questionable content. Also, the creation of a Facebook group at Pennsylvania State University, entitled “I rushed the field,” led to the identification and punishment of more than 50 students who posted pictures of themselves violating the school’s policy against the activity. Finally, after the fatal drunk-driving hit-and-run of a University of Connecticut freshman, police were able to use Facebook to link a student and her boyfriend to the incident and charge them with the death and hindering prosecution.

Perhaps one of the most overlooked consequences of drinking and posting digital dirt is being denied a job; however, the practice of conducting Internet searches on job applicants is quickly gaining popularity. According to a 2006 poll by CareerBuilder.com, 26 percent of hiring managers say they have used the Internet to perform background checks on applicants, and 12 percent say they have used social networking sites for this purpose. Sixty-three percent have decided not to hire applicants based on information found in online profiles. The top reasons employers cite for turning down applicants are lying about qualifications, poor communication skills, criminal behavior, “bad-mouthing” or revealing confidential information about former employers, alcohol or other drug use, provocative or inappropriate photographs, and unprofessional screen names. 

Unfortunately, students tend to assume a false sense of security regarding their social networking behavior, viewing these sites as private communities, used solely for interaction with peers. But, not only is their information public, it is also permanent, forming an enduring “digital tattoo” of student antics. Just as it is nearly impossible to permanently delete files from a computer’s hard drive, once information appears on a Web site, it cannot be completely erased. Many search engines, Web browsers, and archival sites cache copies of Web pages, keeping them available to the public long after they have been “deleted” or altered by students.

For potential employers who are not Web-savvy or do not have the time or resources to do their own detective work, help is readily available. For a fee, professional background screeners conduct investigations beyond the usual credential-, and criminal-checks on job applicants. They are increasingly performing “character references,” using specialized search engines like yoName.com and Wink.com, which were developed specifically to search social networking sites. Providers of these new Web-based background search tools continue to develop smarter, faster ways to collect the most abundant and accurate data possible about individuals, and with the rising popularity of social networking sites and students’ haphazard use of them, the incriminating information they seek will be easier still to find.

References:

CareerBuilder.com—One-in-Four Hiring Managers Have Used Internet Search Engines to Screen Job Candidates; One-in-Ten Have Used Social Networking Sites, CareerBuilder.com Survey Finds (10/26/06)
http://www.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?id=pr331&sd=10%2f26%2f2006&ed=
12%2f31%2f2006&siteid=cbpr331&sc_cmp1=cb_pr331_

Amber Dillard
Email: adillard@edc.org
Information Services Assistant
The U.S. Department of Education’s Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence Prevention