A recent article in the Dayton Daily News points to studies that indicate more and more college admissions counselors are checking out applicants’ Facebook and MySpace pages. Most kids think that their profiles are somehow super-secret and only privy to their “friends.” Some of the posted photos and writing are innocuous enough, but some kids are indiscreet when recounting their latest parties, bragging about drunken debauchery, or their sexual escapades.
I also know that more and more colleges are using Facebook as a marketing tool. I recently went to a conference hosted by the Colorado Council for High School / College Relations, at which two seasoned admissions officers were teaching school counselors about how colleges use technology and social networking to attract applicants.
Students need to be careful and understand that Facebook is a very powerful marketing tool for all sorts of companies that appear invisible to the users. Further, it is a tool to acquire information about you. So if there is information you’d rather not have future employers, grandmothers, or your teachers see, it might be a good idea to leave it off the profile.