The Lantern

Issue date: 5/2/07 Section: Campus

Gabriel McDonald learned the power of the Web the hard way.

McDonald, a sophomore in engineering, lost his dorm room and his job because of photos of him uploaded onto Facebook.

Students such as McDonald often upload photos onto Facebook without thinking about the repercussions the images might have. Depending on privacy settings, anyone with an Ohio State webmail address can access OSU Facebook accounts - a network of 62,806 people and growing.

And there might be some guests on Facebook of whom students are unaware. Faculty, staff and University police all have the option to join Facebook, according to Cheryl Lyons, director of housing education for University Housing.

McDonald lost his position as a resident adviser after his friend posted pictures of him on Facebook. The pictures were taken at a New Year's Eve party McDonald hosted at his parents' house in Dublin during winter break.

"There are still a few nights where I have trouble sleeping if I start thinking about it because it makes me so mad," McDonald said.

Photos from the party showed McDonald, who is 20, with other underage OSU students who were consuming wine and beer. In the pictures, McDonald was not drinking or holding any alcohol.

A fellow student informed the staff at University Housing of the pictures. University Housing gave McDonald the choice to either resign or be fired.

McDonald opted to resign from his position. He then had to move out of Mack Hall and now lives in Baker Hall. More than a dorm room, he lost a position on which he thrived.

"I loved being an RA," McDonald said. "I miss feeling like I am allowed to make a difference and I miss feeling like I am part of a community."

Lyons said pictures featuring students engaging in illegal activity are usually brought to the attention the staff at University Housing by other students. Although Lyons has a Facebook account, she said she only logs on when students report illegal photographs to her. Still she cautions students who use Facebook.

"As you go through college and you start applying for internships, or jobs when you graduate, some employers and professors do look at Facebook and they might make a judgment," Lyons said. "It's easy to say 'oh well we look, but we wont make a final judgment based on that', but how do you take that information out of your mind?"

While some university officials and employers log on Facebook to review the "extracurricular" activities of people they're considering hiring, other companies use Facebook and MySpace to find potential employees.

Aerotek, a professional staffing agency based in Columbus, uses Facebook and MySpace to find recruits, said company recruiter Brad Wright.

"We are a pretty young office and most of us are on Facebook," said Wright. "We use Facebook to go through our friends to get referrals, but the pictures or profiles really don't have an influence."

Aerotek has also set up a MySpace page to attract young business professionals said internal recruiter Amanda Franke.

"We are utilizing MySpace as a tool to get out there and get in touch with people," Franke said. "But we are not using it to research candidates that we are considering."

While Aerotek does not use Facebook to research employees, Franke said she knows of other companies out there that do.

The outcome of McDonald's situation has not led him to abandon his Facebook account. He still shares his photos on Facebook - only now he is censoring their content and who gets to see them. He switched his privacy settings, allowing only confirmed friends access to his Facebook profile.

Alexia Cameron can be reached at cameron.818@osu.edu.

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