Under the microscope

I have recently begun building a web presence. Ultimately, I will have pages on various social networking sites, membership in professional networks, a personal web page, at least one blog (beyond this one), and other possibilities I am only beginning to consider.

The current term attached to this kind of web presencing is 'Personal Branding'. Before broadband hit the home, very few people knew how to follow your activities online. And most of your life was lived offline, anyway. Now? Anyone with sufficient time and determination can find out just about anything you do online, unless you are a better hacker than they are.

That includes everything you might be doing while connected to some part of the telecom network (which contains the Internet, for the most part). That includes who you text, call, e-mail, IM, what you tweet, what sites you log into, what media you stream and download, every communication you have ever undertaken online.

Think about that for a moment. The article I would like to discuss made it clear to me how far this has gone.

I received a link to this article from LinkedIn. It talks about how HR people in companies you are applying to for jobs are checking you out. The link is here.

The tone of the article is surprisingly neutral, given that the message is quite chilling. The initial paragraph uses the very pointed phrase 'come back to haunt you'. However, the rest of the article is pitched more at providing basic information rather than continuing the scare.

It is interesting to note that the article states quite clearly that the author disapproves of this practice. He says that the people surveyed 'think they are justified' in searching out information on applicants online. This directly implies that the author disagrees with their assessment.

The graphic to the right of the title is taken from George Orwell's classic '1984'. Big Brother has become a ubiquitous term since the beginning of online lives. Anyone who has read '1984' finds this truly a chilling reference. Or would have, before it became an almost meaningless meme.

The tone in the later parts of the article have more to do with the author's disbelief that people think they are not being watched. He references 'how few job seekers are aware of their personal brands', soon followed by a very short sentence 'It's crazy.' His final comment in that paragraph uses the word 'surveillance'. There are few things quite as disturbing as the thought that we are not only being watched, but judged, as well. Nobody is surveilled who is thought to be innocent, after all.

Overall, the language is not directly intended to frighten. It seems more of a 'why aren't you paying attention?' type of piece.

What strikes me is the next obvious step. Soon, job seekers are going to start checking out employees and managers at companies they apply to. It will be interesting to see whether or not the corporations put up with that.