We live in a social media obsessed world. There’s Facebook, Myspace, (although I wonder if anyone actually still uses it), Twitter, and many blogging platforms such as Tumblr, WordPress, and Blogger. Although we upload our pictures to Flickr and Facebook all the time or write about our weekend experiences in personal blogs, there could be a possible downside to all of this internet exposure: According to the Wall Street Journal, 85% of hiring managers Google a candidate before or after an interview. This fact, which is becoming more and more well-known, brings up the question: To blog or not to blog?

While I’m not saying that anyone who publicly posts pictures of themselves puking into a fraternity bathroom shouldn’t be a cause for concern, I am posing the question of boundaries and what and when a company should base their decision on hiring someone because of what comes up when they use Google. For example, take all the CollegeCandy contributors. Should our future bosses decline an interview with us, even though our resumes may be well qualified, simply because we once wrote an article that mentions sex or highlights the importance of birth control?

Personally, I think keeping a blog of any kind is a worthwhile venture. As a writer, I like to post things I’m interested in, things that drive me crazy, and of course, continuously write about things that matter to me (this includes everything from literary theory criticisms to the correct usage of the Real Housewives of New Jersey’s infamous phrase “prostitution whore”). However, I often worry that if I post liberal-sided articles or a picture of me enjoying a glass of wine that someone may use those things against me and blow them out of proportion one day. Despite more and more social media outlets being introduced to society on a regular basis, it seems like the idea of censorship or hiding oneself (at least the internet brand of oneself) is becoming a constant battle.

But get this – the Wall Street Journal also reports that “Recruiters and employers…routinely do online background searches on their candidates to learn more about them, as well as to filter out candidates with little or negative information about them.” So basically, it seems like our generation is damned if we do, damned if we don’t.

Imagine if you have nothing come up when your future employer Googles you. Instead of them rewarding you for that (something more and more colleges and media-outlets tell us to strive for), they pass on you because you aren’t relevant or important enough. But then, if you have an author’s page or Twitter account, something could be taken out of context or perceived as negative. What about people that disagree with this article? Could my future employer one day decline to hire me because some random commenter disagreed with me – putting me in a negative position?

It sounds crazy, I know, but it’s something that constantly comes up in the world of online writing and social media. While I understand why businesses want to search their job candidates, I think some kind of line in the sand needs to be drawn before too many well-deserving candidates are overlooked simply because they blog about Christian Louboutin’s, OPI nail polish, and Rachel Zoe instead of Wall Street, international trade, and compounding interest.

The issue of ‘to blog or not’ seems to constantly rely on personal judgment. However, personal judgment works both ways. For example, if someone is irresponsible enough to post a picture of themselves humping (see – because I used the word humping in this post, I may possibly never get a real job) a stop sign, they acted in poor judgment. Although they may personally have found it funny and did not make the picture private, their actions overwhelmingly were not in the best of judgment.

But think of it this way – what if your potential employer’s personal judgment doesn’t like your Tweet about his/her favorite restaurant, and decides that you come across as too opinionated because you simply wrote “Will not be eating at Restaurant A again.” Their personal judgment could cost you a good opportunity. The bottom line is that not everyone uses the best personal judgment from time to time (including those in hiring positions), and what one person finds offensive may not be a big deal to someone else. Should our generation have to walk on eggshells so we don’t piss anyone off with our opinions and views on the internet? Is this what it’s coming down to?

Blogger Emily Rose, a recent college graduate wrote a ballsy open post to a potential future employer on her Tumblr, after accidentally sending her blog link in her e-mail signature. Instead of cowering in fear over whether or not her employer would show no interest in her because of her personal interests explored on her blog (such as hung-over day after snap shots and mojito cupcakes), Emily wrote: “You’ll probably learn more about me from this blog than you did from my CV, which is fine. You’ve probably figured out some stuff already: like that I love animals and Africa and my family. But also, you know, sometimes I drink. And I spend a lot of time online….the result of those factors is now what’s on your monitor, and I don’t feel compelled to apologize for any of it.”

While some people may be completely appalled that she would be so open about herself like that, I think Emily is onto something. If we can’t be our true selves or represent things about ourselves in a personal manner, even in a public way such as the internet, then what does that say about society today? In conclusion of her post, Emily hits the nail on the head by writing, “I think I’m a good hire. I think I’m a good person, too. And I don’t think typing bad words or posting a picture of myself with friends at a bar blowing off some steam should affect my chances just because I’m a young person, and the lives of young people are more public and accessible than those of our parents.”

All in all, interviews, resumes, recommendations, and qualifications should remain as the most important factors in getting hired or rejected. But instead of using personal media against this generation, maybe it should be looked at a different way. With our generation riding the first wave of this Google exposure (or shall we call it overexposure?) phenomenon, it will be interesting to see what pans out. Ultimately though, I hope for the sake of our generation – we’re not looked at like this forever. Employers, writers, job applicants, and social media users of all kinds should embrace the more public and accessible use of information today, or at least set some boundaries for the years and technological advancements to come.

"Tard pills? Hilarious!"

As every CollegeCandy writer knows, blog commenters can be brutal. Like, kill your self-esteem and make you question everything you’ve ever written brutal. People who you have never met will take the time to dissect your blog and tear it apart sentence by sentence. No typo goes unnoticed and no opinion goes unbashed.

I’m writing for four different blogs now so half my day is consumed with writing them and the other half is spent reading comments filled with racial slurs, homophobic comments, and sentences written in all CAPS. Nothing says “I hate the way you blog about puppies,” like a 6 paragraph comment written in caps and exclamation marks. Sometimes there are so many asterisks in a single word that I can’t even figure out what kind of motherf***ing***tard I am.

I’ve gotten so used to the negative comments that I’ve begun to crave them. It’s kinda like how many people will tell me today that I’m clearly writing from my mom’s basement (I wish…talk about cheap rent and endless things to talk about in therapy). And how many middle-aged men with usernames like DildoMongoDemento can tell me I “forgot to take my retard pills.” Note: If it was true that I forgot to take these so-called retard pills, it would be pretty amazing that I was able to successfully blog and post. Like I am Sam-meets-Forrest-Gump amazing.

However the one comment that never ceases to confuse me is “you sound fat.” I would understand if I was writing blogs titled “100 ways to eat a stick of butter” and “Why you have to order a Bacon-cheeseburger martini this weekend!” But I’m not. And it’s not like I’m blogging about male fashion trends and writing statements like “fedoras are the jelly donut of the fashion world.” If I were, I could stop describing everything with the adjective mouth-watering.

But while I may never figure out why “I sound fat,” or why people feel the need to spend their time tearing me apart, I’ll always appreciate the jaw-dropping offensive comments I receive. For one, it means people are reading what I write (and that’s the ultimate goal of a writer, isn’t it?), and it keeps my ego at a healthy low and ensures that I’m up to speed on all the many ways you can combine curse words and slurs.

Whoa. We are thisclose to New Year’s, and with each new year also comes the inevitable making of resolutions.  While resolutions are great ideas in theory (who can honestly say there’s nothing about themselves that they could possibly improve on?), most people (including me) have a hard time sticking to their new plan much past the first few weeks of January. Or even the first few hours.

The best tactic for keeping those resolutions alive is writing those resolutions down on a list; seeing them every day helps remind you what you’re working on. That is, until you “lose” that piece of paper, or just ignore it on your way to Dunkin Donuts for a super fatty Boston Creme.

Which is why everyone needs to check out 43 Things, a website that lets you create your own personal to-do list.  I’ve always made handwritten to do lists, but I love how 43 Things’ online version fits into the technology-centered lifestyle of our society.  Each time you set a new goal, you can choose to set a reminder as well for a specified amount of time (every day, a few months later, the following year, etc.), and 43 Things will send you an e-mail reminding you about the goal you’ve set.

It’s also a sort of online/blogging community, so you can see what kinds of goals other people are setting (to give yourself ideas), and you can cheer on others or offer them help on things you’ve already done–and you can get help on your goals in return.

Plus, now they offer an iPhone app as well, so you can keep your list with you at all times and track the progress you’ve made on accomplishing your goals.

With the help of 43 Things, maybe 2010 will be the year you’ll actually keep your resolutions! Good luck and Happy New Year!!

Wait...you do WHAT for a living?

Thanksgiving gets increasingly more stressful for me every single year. If I’m not having nightmares about the stuffing running out before it gets passed to me, then I’m biting my nails over the fact that I’ll have to explain my career to my family sixteen times. And let’s not even get started on the fact that I’ve misplaced my expandable waistband jeans and turkey-print mumu. There’s no way I’m sitting down at that table wearing anything else. The last thing I can afford is a busted pair of pants with no buttons and a broken zipper.

I’m pretty sure my own parents can’t figure out exactly how blogging works or how I’m making money — so I have no idea how to even explain it to my grandmother. For years I thought she was computer literate, but it sadly turns out she was convinced that the Windows Paint program was actually the Internet. It certainly explains why she was adamant that my e-mails were never getting to her, but it will also make explaining blogging to her quite the challenge. Perhaps my best bet is to just replace her entire World Book 1965 collection with book covers that say “by Jenni” and tell her that I’ve been writing outdated encyclopedias since graduation.

Even worse than having to explain blogging to a 176-year-old (give or take a few decades) is having to beat around the bush when my younger relatives actually ask to see the blogs. While I’m writing for six different blogs, there is not one that’s appropriate for family members to see. If I’m not writing about one-night stands or pee pranks, then I’m giving advice to elderly men on how to date financially desperate women. And I’ve just ruled out showing this one because I know someone will tattle on me to my grandmother, which means a month from now when my siblings are opening up Chanukah envelopes with crisp 10 dollar bills, I’ll be opening a package marked hazardous that’s filled with my grandmother’s old dentures.

My anxiety ulcers aren’t just coming from having to explain my blogging career, but also from having to spend time with my extended family. When I was little, cramming 12 cousins into 2 beds seemed like a fun challenge. But now that everyone’s grown up (and gained weight) it’s more like every man for himself — if you don’t get a bed or a couch, make yourself cozy under the kitchen table. And beds are nothing compared to the fight over the remote. So help me god if anyone thinks they’re watching anything besides 30 Rock on Thursday night.

For a second I thought that maybe I was overdoing the stress and exaggerating the whole situation. But then my mom just called and gave me the annual lecture about not going out of my way to make my sister cry this year and I realized that I might be better off spending the holiday in my apt — TV remote and bed to myself.

Blogs, websites, Facebook profiles, etc. give everyone with an internet connection the ability to create their own stories and share them with the world. And they can do so without ever telling anyone their name. It happens on Juicy Campus every day, and on other sites all across the internet.

So what do you do when someone starts spreading rumors about you online?

Liskula Cohen, a model in New York, decided to fight back after one blogger anonymously called her a skank and an old hag. (Editor’s Note: Seriously? This woman is smoking!) Since she doesn’t know who it was, Cohen has decided to sue Google, the owner of the blogging site the comment was posted on.

Sure, it sucks when people call you a skank (welcome to my life as a CC blogger), but isn’t a lawsuit a bit much? It’s not like being a skank will prevent her from futhering her career, or that anyone is taking this blogger seriously. Plus, think about what could happen if Cohen wins; this could change the face of the internet and freedom of speech forever.

What do you think? Is Cohen justified, or is she just a bitter skank?

Because 2008 isn’t just the summer of expensive corn and Obama-rama, it’s also the summer of TMI. Over-sharing has become a form of communication for our generation; from blogging about bad dates, to blogging about our self-indulgent issues, to blogging purely to become famous. No matter who we are, we can become stars overnight by uploading naked photos, name-dropping about a wild party, or simply having an ounce of literary ability and a snarky way with words.

By late July, 2008, the percent of people in the US who haven’t seen a celebrity vajayjay flash or heard someone say, “dude, I’m gonna blog about this!” is monumentally small, and it seems like every day a new gossip or 24 hour news site pops up. However, amidst the clattering of fingers on keyboards and snapping of flashbulbs, I can’t help but wonder if this constant need to be seen and heard is actually doing us any good.

Is all this over-sharing about our drug, drink, and sexual exploits really helping women cultivate a strong, intelligent persona? Do we feel more empowered now that Britney, Lindsay, and Paris have made trashy the new black? Are our lives more complete now that we know what David Beckham had for breakfast?

These aren’t rhetorical questions. As a twenty-something myself, I really want to know:

In this age of over-sharing, are you confident about yourself and your image? Are you proud of how we as women have represented ourselves in the media?

Vote in our poll, and write in our comments — this is your chance to tell the world exactly how you feel.

Maybe she was so pissed off at getting dumped she just went black with rage and couldn’t think of any other way of getting the attention she needed. Maybe she thought the best revenge was one served to millions of Internet users all around the world. Who knows what made Smith share her very dirty laundry with the general populace. People get irrational when they’re kicked to the curb. The thing that’s important about this weird story?

She’s not the only one.

According to this NYT article, it’s becoming more and more acceptable to spill your guts to the world via blogging, and more and more acceptable to include really intimate details about your relationship (or current lack thereof).

What do you think of this kind of self-involved self-expression? When we whine into a webcam or tear someone apart through a ranty blog, does it come from a need to connect, or just a need for the world to revolve around us? What about people using real names and faces?

Have we become so obsessed with splashing ourselves across the airwaves that we’ve lost sight of what the words “private life” actually mean?

Spill. We want your opinion.

Two weeks ago, 60-year-old technology blogger, Richard Shaw, died of a heart attack. Only a few months earlier, in December, another tech blogger, 50-year-old Marc Orchant, died of a massive coronary. Also in December, the well-known blogger, Om Malik, 41, survived a heart attack.

I told ya. Of course, there is no official diagnosis that blogging caused these incidents, but I honestly wouldn’t be surprised. Blogging can be majorly stressful. According to the article, “bloggers complain of weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies born of the nonstop strain of producing for a news and information cycle that is as always-on as the Internet.”

Michael Arrington, the founder of the popular TechCrunch, is still alive, but claims that since he started his blog 3 years ago, he has gained 30 lbs, developed a severe sleeping disorder, and turned his home into an office for him and 4 employees. He says, “At some point, I’ll have a nervous breakdown and be admitted to the hospital…” Then again, TechCrunch has brought Arrington millions in advertising revenue. Sometimes you need to take risks to make revenues.

The article makes lots of good points about the stresses of blogging. The constant need to be the first to cover a story. The fact that news is always happening, whether it’s 3:00 in the afternoon or 3:00 in the morning. Most non-bloggers wouldn’t consider the life of a blogger to be overly stressful, but in many cases, it is. Of course it doesn’t help that many bloggers sit in front of their computers for hours on end, not getting enough exercise, not sleeping, and eating whatever can be shoveled into their mouths while typing (or just forgetting to eat altogether). Blogging can easily turn into an unhealthy lifestyle if you let it.

Blogging. It’s a dangerous job, but it has to be done. Who needs sleep anyway? I just take naps between posts.

Sometimes, all you want to do is procrastinate. On the Internet. You want to laugh a little, be horrified a little, catch up on the latest gossip a little…basically, you want to spend a few glorious minutes simultaneously doing nothing and everything before Poly Sci 105 starts up and sucks out your soul for the second time this week.

Here are some sites that have helped us become amazing.

…They should do the same for you.

1. TMZ.COM In all of their smack talking glory, we f*cking love them. And their snarky ways.

2. DListed.com Any site that has “crackheads” as a category is pretty awesome.

3. Fark.com I couldn’t resist when I saw this headline, “Pregnant woman arrested after drinking eight beers, which to her credit is four less than it took to get her pregnant“

4. Recapist.com I don’t have the time to sit in front of a TV all day, but they do, and Thank God cause I need to know what’s happening on The Bachelor.

5. Pajiba.com Reviews and such from witty writers.

6. Bookslut.com This site makes me want to start my own site called linkslut…or…foodslut…or maybe Candyslut? Slut sounds good with a lot of words, books included.

7. BeautyandTheDirt.co.uk For all that chicky stuff.

8. Catwalkqueen.tv For all of your fashion indulgences.

9. This Fish Needs a Bicycle, Heather, a blogging girl, on life, love, work. and all the drama in between.

10. The Alternative Consumer For all things on Green Living.

HAPPY SURFING, MAMAS!

Admit it: you love Facebook. And MySpace. Maybe you have a blog, or you comment on one. Blogs and social networking sites are a great way to keep in touch with friends and family, post pictures and pontificate on your latest drama.

But who ELSE is keeping track of your online persona?

Well, for one, your future employer. By now you’ve probably heard that many HR people head straight to Facebook or MySpace after that big interview you thought you nailed. Maybe you never got around to removing “getting wasted” from your interests, or de-tagging that picture of you with a cigarette in one had and a drink in the other. Things like these are warning signs to future bosses–if they think you spend most of your time drinking and smoking, they’re going to wonder whether or not it will affect your job performance.

What about a work blog? My friend, lets call her…Jonie, kept a blog while working as an assistant for a crazy financial guy. It was juicy and hilarious and a great read and…she got caught. She didn’t get fired, but she pretty much had to resign soon after. She never used her own name on the blog, nor did she use her boss’s name or the company’s information. But somehow her boss got a hold of the link, and he knew right away who it was about. Busted, big time.

What about your friends, enemies, frenemies, ex-boyfriends, etc? I just recently remembered that I still have the user name and password to the secret Live Journal of a now ex-friend. Is she gossiping about the demise of our friendship? Let’s hope not…because I could read all about it if I chose to! Even this blog got yours truly in trouble recently for dishing about some personal stuff–it doesn’t matter HOW they find the post, only that they found it in the first place. What’s read can’t be unread, loves!

The worst, as far as I’m concerned, is your PARENTS. I had a very private blog that I only told a few friends about, where I kept accounts of all my college goings-on. Well, stupid me updated it once while I was home for vacation, leaving the link in the “recently browsed” list. Guess who found out about my nefarious behavior, including showing up to an internship incredibly hung over? Yeah, that would be my parents. Whoops.

So what can you do to prevent that awkward “I saw what you wrote about me” or “I just don’t think you’re the right employee for us” moment? Here’s a quick plan of action:

1. Have a look at your Facebook and MySpace accounts. Is there anything there you wouldn’t want your teacher/parents/boss to see? Consider taking it down.

2. Privacy settings are your friend! MySpace lets you set your profile to private, Facebook has about a million different settings–you can make your photos and your wall available only to friends or certain networks, for example, or remove yourself from being searchable at all. Keep in mind that now anyone can join big city networks like New York, NY–so if you belong to one of these, its a good idea to restrict access to friends-only.

3. Nothing you publish on the web is really private. A locked diary stashed under your bed? That’s private. A blog that’s password protected or published anonymously? Not private. If someone besides you knows the password, imagine a worst-case scenario–what if the password were leaked, and someone else saw what you wrote? Would all hell break lose? Consider taking it down.

4. Give yourself a quick Google. After searching my full name (in quotes), I found an old Bebo page I created over a year ago and forgot about, a piece of my writing which was published in an online journal, an article from a school newspaper in which I was quoted, and another online profile for a “what I’ve been reading”type of website. Pretty innocuous results, but who knows what you might dredge up about yourself?

5. When in doubt, delete delete delete! I recently decided to get rid of my MySpace and Friendster accounts, and just stick to Facebook. The less opportunities people have to find out more info about you, the better.

Finally, remember when your mom used to “if you don’t have anything nice to say about someone, don’t say it at all?” Well, we all know that’s crap (who doesn’t love some good gossip?), but you may want to take Mama Sarah’s revised saying to heart: “If you wouldn’t say it to someone’s face, don’t publish it on the internet”.