MySpace is No Place for Air Force
During my recent presentation on social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook at OnRec Global Expo 2006, one of the attendees asked whether employers should post profiles about themselves on the sites. The concern was related to the risk related to the employer becoming associated with some of the content on the sites, which can be less than wholesome. While I recognize that the issue may be troubling to employers, I believe that it is overblown as the issue is primarily seen through the eyes of Boomers and Gen X'ers, few of which use the sites and even fewer of which would be likely to search out and find the profiles. Virtually all of those who view those profile pages are members of the Gen Y and MyPod generations and these visitors understand that there is no reason to draw inferences about your profile simply because you have a "friend" (link to another profile) who has a friend who has posted less than wholesome material on their profile page.
Now comes word that the U.S. Air Force has pulled its profile page on MySpace because it was concerned that the Air Force would become associated with content that it deems inappropriate. According to Col. Brian Madtes, chief of the Recruiting Service’s strategic communication division, the Air Force "...got to the point where [it wasn't] real comfortable with the potential for inappropriate content to be posted [on the page of] a friend of a friend. [The Air Force] didn’t want to be associated with that … and tarnish [its] reputation.”
Despite pulling the profile page, the Air Force Recruiting Service acknowledged that MySpace was ideal venue for attracting young people to the Air Force because the site is popular with its target audience, 18- to 24-year-olds. “The demographics are perfect,” Madtes said. Indeed, MySpace is one of the highest traffic sites in United States. comScore Media Metrix has it ranked as the second most popular site, trailing only Yahoo!
Interestingly, one of the employer profile pages that I spotlighted during my presentation was the Marine Corps’ MySpace page. It is still active and had 21,016 “friends” as of Sept. 19th.
So should employers follow the lead of the Air Force and shy away from MySpace and other social networking sites because a link from their profile page might take you to a page that is linked to another page that might contain objectionable material? Or should employers follow the lead of the Marines and accept that the Internet is called the world wide web because, like a spider's web, its strength and vitality are dependent upon its links? If your target market for new candidates is comprised primarily of Gen X'ers and Boomers, then MySpace is probably not the best vehicle for you. But if you're like the Air Force or Marines and target 18 to 24 year olds, then you need to be on sites like MySpace.
The Air Force is too sophisticated and far sighted to stay off of sites like MySpace for long. They will get this figured out. Perhaps they aren't feeling as much of a need to be on the sites right now because they're having little difficulty hitting their recruitment goals, unlike the Army and Marines whose soldiers are at far greater risk due to the prolonged wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
I believe Myspace, Facebook, and all other sites that are similar, are taken a tad too seriously. They are created and designed so millions of people can keep in touch with their friends easier as they get older.
I will admit that Myspace is a bit corrupt, but it is what someone makes of it. I believe Facebook has done an excellent job at keeping its site more personal, clean, and contained.I also know there are quite a few people who make fake accounts on these sites, because they still want to partake in them, but are afraid to because their employers will fire them.
I also agree with the conclusion that the Airforce will return to Myspace. They are going to see all the attention the Marines receive and will have no choice, but to return. Myspace is full of teenagers and young adults, so it is the perfect site for advertisment.