I finally had a chance to check out your pod from the OnRec conference. I was multi-tasking so I didn’t take in every detail and every second of it. Good job. Engaging. Good mix of content. Easy to follow.

A few things caught my attention. First, you spoke of the sins the youthful Face Book and MySpace users have committed. Some have pulled the questionable content so that they won't get dinged by potential employers. However, has anyone considered using the argument in favor of looking askance in these situations? It was developed by Vincent Hallinan, noted San Francisco lawyer and graduate of University of San Francisco. I thought the expression would never die. "Youthful indisgression" allowed him to be excused from things like getting into public fist fights, vitriolic diatribes, and colorful outbursts. His energetic defense of the downtrodden and perennially oppressed won him a lot of popularity.

The other thing you mentioned that caught my attention was interference with economic opportunity, especially in relation to someone giving a false negative reference where you want to hire someone to work for you but the previous employer is the abusive boss and has a “thing” about the employee. Great point! That is exactly how they function. That is one of the signs. That’s what it amounts to – interference with economic opportunity for both you and the potential employee.

Since October is National Workplace Domestic Violence Awareness month, I had planned to do some blogs pointing out various aspects of the abusive boss and abusive employee. I've been working toward doing presentations on those subjects, as well as safety precautions, screening for those personality types, and many other topics. Unfortunately, something seems to always come up to table the endeavors while others forge ahead with splash coverage for the sake of a few words in the moment. My endeavors in regard to pulling together a book on the subjects come to the same dead halts. Maybe the information is too dangerous to let out.

But back to the reason for my posting these word. Great job. Good content and excellent presentation. I'm so glad you talked about interference with economic opportunity.

Yvonne,

Thank you for the positive feedback. Underlying this entire subject of employers using social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook are the significant generational differences that exist over exhibitionism. As I've looked at this issue more and more, I've become more convinced that Gen Y simply does not look at exhibitionism the same way as do Boomers. Exhibitionism to older people is something to avoid. Some view it as sinful. Yet Gen Y was about four years old when MTV's "The Real World" launched back in 1992 so they've grown up in a world when exhibitionism is common and even applauded. For them to hold back on sites like MySpace and Facebook simply does not make sense to them. The attitude amongst many are that who they are and if you don't like them, don't hire them. While Boomers are mortified by that attitude, Boomers need to remember that the economy today supports the attitude by Gen Y'ers as they have choices. They are not nearly as concerned with finding "the best job" as they are in living "the best life." So if an employer doesn't want to hire them because there are photos on Facebook that make the Boomer blush, well, that's just fine. Because the Gen Y candidate wouldn't want to work for such as conservative organization anyway so the Boomer just did the Gen Y candidate and the employer a favor.

I love most of the attitudes of Gen Y. They have their priorities straight. They work to live rather than living to work. They want to do good work both in areas that make them money and also in areas that help other people, such as volunteering. They are much more concerned about the environment and are happy to live simply, which will cut down on consumerism and consumer waste. Our futures are in good hands.