Public nature of site becoming hindrance
It seems as though even Facebook is beginning to suffer the same fate of misuse as past social media sites such as MySpace and Xanga, and for good reasons. The fact that companies are using Facebook to evaluate potential employees is perhaps a major deterrent. In an economy where jobs are scarce, people will go to any measures to become employed, including parting with their online profiles. For example, pictures and posts on your profile that you may not deem to be inappropriate could be the difference between getting called back for a second interview or having your application thrown in the trash. Furthermore, posts that other people leave on your profile, even though you were not the one to post it yourself, can reflect negatively on you as an applicant. Other reasons are also redefining people’s view of Facebook. Personally, I don’t check Facebook as often now because of a lack of interest in content posted by others. At first, Facebook was a tool used by people to stay connected and share pictures. However, many people now use it as a medium through which they can detail their every move, thought or action. Recently, I have felt more irritation than usual when viewing my home page due to the constant status updates by attention seekers. There are still legitimate benefits to using Facebook, but the cons seem to outweigh the pros for a large number of people. While I still have a Facebook account, I now realize that I can use other means to stay connected with friends and family.