When Facebook Becomes Professional

Good day, and a good day it is.

Edmonton Humane Society. Ottawahumane.ca

My second post comes at the end of my third week of the term and I find myself keeping busy with homework, dodgeball and soccer, and also cleaning!  With two midterm exams next week, along with several assignments due, (this blog post being one of them) I am surprisingly calm and not as stressed as I would have been last term.  I have my New Years resolution of 'getting a good nights sleep' to thank for that!  In my animal sciences class this week, I went the Edmonton Humane Society and watched a presentation about, and had a tour of the facility, - this was definitely the highlight of my week!  My favorite presenter was from a lady who enforces the APA, or Animal Protection Act, and works with people to ensure that companion animals live in a safe and healthy environment.  I found it extremely interesting that some of the animal abuse cases are reported on the Edmonton Humane Society Facebook page, and also that animal rights groups often post on the page.  When I came home I decided to explore the Edmonton Humane Society Facebook page.  I was very impressed with the layout and professionalism of the page; this brings me to the reason for my blog today, - the announcement and release of my very own professional Facebook page!

We now live in an era of technology and public media, where anything and everything can be found online if one knows what to search for.  Recently, police have been using sites such as Facebook and Twitter to track criminals, while large companies use these sites to learn about a person before employment.  Guidelines such as the following found at opic.ab.ca, have been implemented owing to the increase of social media background checks.  By creating my own professional Facebook page, which can be accessed here, I hope to be portrayed positively when being subject to these background checks.
While creating and maintaining this page is an ongoing project which I aim to continue to work on, a brief overview of my page to date is as followed.

A screen shot of my Facebook page. Retrieved, January 26 2912, from: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Joshua-Perryman/312706105432055 

A great thing about creating a professional Facebook page, is that I have the ability to turn around a social background check that aims at narrowing the range of potential employees, into a tool much like a resume.  By adding a list of my academic history, job experience and a small sentence that describes my future goals, I create for myself an online persona that hopefully reinforces everything I will say in an interview.  By adding in a few references as well, I might be able to catch the eye of an employer and increases the chances of my own employment. 

For many people, most likely those who would not read blogs such as this one, the world of social media and technological advancements can be unnerving.  For myself and other students in my class, such as Hilary Baker whose blog can be found Here, these changes open up many doors and possibilities - To quote a book by Aldous Huxley, it's a brave new world! 

The time has come for me to bid you all a good day,

Until next time,

Josh