Facebook Fiasco

Facebook.com addicts, listen up. Fielding another friend request? Ogling a gorgeous profile? Be careful: though unconfirmed, rumors have been circulating that one undergraduate lost a coveted summer situation due to inappropriate posts on his wall.

“I’m not aware of any fellowships selection committees looking at students’ profiles on Facebook, but I suppose it’s certainly possible,” Lowell House Fellowships Committee Chair Joshua D. Goldman wrote in an e-mail. “Anything on Facebook, MySpace.com, personal webpages, etc. is obviously publicly accessible so that others—including potential employers, fellowships and admissions committees, professors, peers, etc.—can see it.”

There are other potential hazards of the Facebook overshare: as Naa A. Ammah-Tagoe ’10 learned, a potential crush can be crushed by awkward wall posts.

“Right above a post by a guy, someone wrote, ‘Are you obsessed with [that guy]?’ That was the only wall post I’ve ever deleted,” said Ammah-Tagoe.

“Chain messages posted on my wall put me in an awkward position every time,” said Minh T. Nguyen ’10. “I received one that declared love for me while also demanding that I send out 14 of the same [message] declaring my love. This is very hard for me, since I’m superstitious!”

Christian L. Garland ’10 has more graphic Facebook problems: “I just received [a post]: ‘GO EAT HER PUSSY and then realize you’re gay so you have an identity crisis that’s followed by years of pain and anguish until you finally snap and drive your powder blue VW van off a cliff with the bodies of little boys in the trunk.’” Um, okay.

Word to the wise: Your buddy’s semi-pornographic wall posts probably won’t do you justice in the eyes of judgement. That Merrill Lynch executive might decide you’re not such a good investment.