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standbyme

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I was wondering what everyone's take is on maintaining facebook accounts while in the application process? Do you leave it up, delete all photos, remove your wall, etc? Make it friends only? If you make it friends only, is it save to assume that no professors will have access to it? Is it a bad thing for a POI to go on facebook and see that you have other interests, a normal social life, etc.? What do you all think???
 
You should use the Family Litmus Test (FLT....just made it up 😉 ). If there is anything on there that you wouldn't want your mother/father/grandmother/etc to see....then you may not want it up there.

I have my facebook and myspace set to private (primarily because previous patients tracked me down), but even then...it is still out there.

-t
 
There was an article a while back in gradPSYCH (I think) about applicants being compromised because of explosive self-disclosure on blogs, or worse, gabbing about clients on blogs 😡 I think gradPSYCH stuff is archived on their site, so you could find it if my recollection if correct.

I agree with T4C... maybe time to change "looking for:" away from "whatever I can get," and maybe leave the "I'm pretending to like stats to get into a funded school" group. But otherwise I doubt anyone would care about innocuous info.
 
I left mine up and I survived the application process. I don't think it is that big of a deal, and most professors that I talked with didn't try to look. I just wouldn't accept any friends from the schools I was applying to, but I didn't get any friend requests either. They still have to be your friend or be in your network to see you, right? Just make sure your main picture is safe.
 
I put all of my information to private (which means people in my networks cant even see my page, ONLY friends)..and made it so 'tagged' pictures can no longer be seen, only pictures *I* post can.

I used to work with Kids in Grades K-4...and most of them are ALL on high school networks now, so I decided to take the pics down, and because of applications and such decided to make my page private and only seen by friends.

But Irish and I are friends on there...T4C and anyone else, ADD ME!!🙂
 
FYI, many schools do check and I know at least one person who was denied admission on the basis of their facebook account (not here).

Just don't be stupid. There's no need for that picture of you doing a keg stand or blowing a line of coke off a dead hooker to be floating around on the internet. Especially if you're teaching...your students will try and track you down on facebook, and if you're in clinical some of your clients will as well. If they tell someone important....you PROBABLY won't get kicked out (though its possible), but suffice it to say it will likely be more hassle than its worth.

Frankly, I don't get the draw to these sites anyway. After much begging from friends I made a facebook, but I doubt anyone could find me anyways since I have almost no identifying information up there.
 
I think current grad students are more likely to check up on people, and not profs. Of course, the profs will ask their current people who they liked, and that could ding you if they found anything questionable.

-t
 
More likely, yes. The case I mentioned was a professor though🙂
 
I'm a little confused here. I love facebook and have an account that I regularily go on and play with... but isn't it only the people who you add as friends that can see all your personal information?

I know that they may be able to see who you are friends with, poke you and message you, but other than that isn't it off limits?
 
Anyone in your network can see your profile if it isn't set to restricted viewing.
 
JockNerd said:
Anyone in your network can see your profile if it isn't set to restricted viewing.
Click to expand...

Ahhh, so if I'm not in a network then everything is all good?

Wow, all of a sudden I feel like a novice lol.
 
Facebook is my world, haha.

But I keep everything "private", mostly 'cause I use my facebook to vent about everyday stuff and I don't feel comfortable with strangers reading it.
 
yep...mine is pretty benign but I still changed my settings once I got into grad school. I have also gotten alot more careful about venting via my status, posting on someone's wall, etc. If I want to tell someone something that I am think could remotely be misinterpreted or hurt me, I message them instead of posting on their wall.

I left it as it was during the app process, but I was so busy it didn't really say anything anyway. I get more use out of it now because Facebook is how I stay in touch with old classmates now that we've all moved on to other things.
 
Therapist4Chnge said:
I think current grad students are more likely to check up on people, and not profs. Of course, the profs will ask their current people who they liked, and that could ding you if they found anything questionable.

-t
Click to expand...

Yep, this was my experience. I don't do facebook/myspace (just never got around to it I guess - email/phone calls seem to be sufficient for me! - does that make me old?), but I had several grad students comment that they had googled my name (which is fairly unusual) and found a bunch of random information, such as reviews of my brilliant high school theatre career🙄 I'm sure that if they'd found anything subversive, they would have reported it to their advisors.
 
Let us all keep in mind that when we start seeing clients we might want to have our profiles set on private. I have a professor for clinical interviewing who says that many of your clients WILL look you up online.
 
Psychbar said:
Let us all keep in mind that when we start seeing clients we might want to have our profiles set on private. I have a professor for clinical interviewing who says that many of your clients WILL look you up online.
Click to expand...

Been there, done that....got the prying questions. You can bank on it if you work with the 15-25 crowd, and even adults. I've had my patients google me, myspace, facebook, PsychINFO, etc. Many times it is because they have a need to know more, since they share so much with us. I work very blank slate, it comes up a lot in the beginning....but then most tend to accept once more of a therapeutic relationship is established.

-t
 
I don't have a facebook account, so this isn't an issue. On the other hand, one of my hobbies is quite google-friendly, so if someone's curious about me, it'll be pretty easy to find. Oh well.
 
I would say make your preferences private and watch what you put online, assuming pretty much anyone can see it. You definitely should make your profiles private once you are in a program and start seeing clients, so why not just do it now?

I was also told to keep this topic in mind when gearing toward internships because some students have definitely been affected by that.
 
I think anyone with any intention of working with children or schools ought to make sure their facebook page is locked up tight. Similarly, if you plan on going into an area of psychology that deals with a slightly more sensitive population, like children and/or parents, you can bet that your online profiles of any kind would be of more interest to graduate schools than it would be for an applicant who wants to work in health psychology or geriatric psychology.

I personally have a facebook account only to look for long lost friends. I use a fake name, I post hardly any information about myself, and I keep all pictures off my page. I know the kids be lookin' for me! I don't want them to find pictures of me with a beer in my hand that somebody else "tagged" me in, thankyouverymuch. I know that parents and clients have looked for me, and I have plenty of old students out there looking for me. No thanks.
 
One of my clients just tracked me down tonight and sent me a message. Luckily- and intentionally- my account is on lock-down except for friends. The edited version of the comment is:

"Seeing a teacher outside of school is like seeing a dog walk on his hind legs."
Click to expand...
 
pingouin said:
One of my clients just tracked me down tonight and sent me a message. Luckily- and intentionally- my account is on lock-down except for friends. The edited version of the comment is:
Click to expand...

Wow, that's crazy.

Ya, ok... I'm actually just replying because I really wanted to say that I could watch your avatar for hours Pengouin. It's hillarious!
 
I have a facebook and myspace (altho I really only use the facebook- GREAT for procrastinating during thesis writing). I have very private settings and one you should know is that you CAN set your picture to display as a question mark when people search for you! I know in my program a couple of students got in big trouble for having inappropriate child-related jokes on their myspace...and a parent found it! I'm going to be applying to internship soon and it is something I wonder/worry about.

On a side note- anyone with facebook- FACEBOOK ME! I am addicted and love the new friends...esp. psych ones 🙂 (link should be in my info)

Oh, and BTW- I kept the account up when I applied to grad school and apparently I passed the test, but FYI- things stay up in "virtual memory" for about 3 months after...so something may be saved somewhere and when u r googled it can still come up....even after things are changed. Well, so my professors say.....
 
As an applicant, I am quite disturbed by this thread! I will make everything private now!!!
 
toroharo said:
As an applicant, I am quite disturbed by this thread! I will make everything private now!!!
Click to expand...

same here. My stuff has long been set to private, and I always took great pains to be pretty private, but have spent a lot of time online :scared: . several ppl I communicate with, I only do via those online pages, so it kind of sucks that I have to censor them. Even though they are set to private already. Ah!
 
pingouin said:
:laugh: thanks, Waiting!
Click to expand...


Lol, I just checked this thread because I saw there were new posts and yep.... I've been staring at the mean penguin pushing the other one in the water for like 10 minutes :laugh:.

Ohhh I have a simple mind lol. I'm going to put it down to procrastination.
 
WaitingKills said:
Lol, I just checked this thread because I saw there were new posts and yep.... I've been staring at the mean penguin pushing the other one in the water for like 10 minutes :laugh:.

Ohhh I have a simple mind lol. I'm going to put it down to procrastination.
Click to expand...

I miss all of the fun stuff w/avatars turned off. I think I remember my avatar, I may need to update it, ya know....to keep it fresh.

*edit*

Yup...it is a photo I took while I was out on a shoot earlier this year....I forget the specific breed of bird, but he was preening.

-t
 
completely off-topic.. T4C, how on earth do you remember who everyone is without having avatars turned on???? I had my Simpsonized-self up for a while, and I didn't even recognize my own posts! :laugh:

slightly more relevant: Prior to that client finding me (which I knew would happen someday- if not with her, with someone else), I got "found" and "friended" by one of the psychiatrists who refers to my private practice. That was quite the surprise... 😱
 
pingouin said:
completely off-topic.. T4C, how on earth do you remember who everyone is without having avatars turned on???? I had my Simpsonized-self up for a while, and I didn't even recognize my own posts! :laugh:
Click to expand...

No idea....I am really bad with names too. I get people confused, so YMMV.

pingouin said:
slightly more relevant: Prior to that client finding me (which I knew would happen someday- if not with her, with someone else), I got "found" and "friended" by one of the psychiatrists who refers to my private practice. That was quite the surprise... 😱
Click to expand...

Social networking sites (SNS) are odd like that. I am still avoiding LinkedIn because I don't want my old clients finding me and trying to suck me back in....that and my contacts range from Fortune 50 execs to the crazy guy who is constantly starting a new company trying to hit it big with the next pet rock. SNS are odd like that, they can be really interesting to see how everyone is connected....but also scary...because you see how everyone is connected.

Facebook seems to be the really popular one now for current students.
-t
 
Therapist4Chnge said:
I miss all of the fun stuff w/avatars turned off. I think I remember my avatar, I may need to update it, ya know....to keep it fresh.

*edit*

Yup...it is a photo I took while I was out on a shoot earlier this year....I forget the specific breed of bird, but he was preening.

-t
Click to expand...

It's a bird?? I always thought it was a flower!

Cool pic, anyway.
 
psychanon said:
It's a bird?? I always thought it was a flower!

Cool pic, anyway.
Click to expand...


A larger version.

5.jpg



-t
 
T4C, was it wild or captive? My first guess based on the coloring would be a rainbow macaw. It can't think of another species of the top of my head with that variety of coloring. Even Sun Conures would lack the blue you see in the picture--I'm a green-cheeked conure owner (and by the way, though I love my conure most dearly, NEVER get a parrot for a pet, imo!).
 
biogirl215 said:
T4C, was it wild or captive? My first guess based on the coloring would be a rainbow macaw. It can't think of another species of the top of my head with that variety of coloring. Even Sun Conures would lack the blue you see in the picture--I'm a green-cheeked conure owner (and by the way, though I love my conure most dearly, NEVER get a parrot for a pet, imo!).
Click to expand...


Captive....I wish I had the funding to travel abroad and shoot (though I may backpack across Europe this spring, before internship). I have other bird/animal pics on my photography site if you are curious. They'll be in the Butterfly World shoots.

-t
 
From the other pictures, I can say it's definitely a macaw--the eye patches give it away--and probably a rainbow, though it could be a cross or rarer subspecies (the green head is unusual). Not that anyway cares, but just FYI.

Edit: Having viewed the picture that your avatar came from, I can say with almost complete certainity that the parrot in THAT picture is a rainbow macaw...
 
I love all the hysteria concerning facebook profiles. I think people who give this more than 5 seconds' thought are far too self-absorbed. Very little of what I've seen on anyone's facebook profile is particularly intriguing. It's usually just ho-hum pictures of people smiling and posting silly (and usually undechiperable) drivel on other people's walls. Unless you have naked pictures of yourself or something along those lines, nobody really cares what's on there. Clients and others will look you up simply because they're humans, and humans are nosey. If you think they're looking you up because they like you or have some kind of crush on you, then you likely you think far too highly of yourself.

It's also interesting to me how so many clinicians will preach about openness, honesty, and genuineness to their clients all the while maintaing a facade of anonymity in their private lives. I've had some clients tell me that they liked seeing my facebook profile because it somehow humanised me. And I've had other clients tell me that they find it suspicious when certain people block their facebook profiles (because it's something that requires added effort). What, they often ask, are people trying to hide --- and why are they not emotionally mature enough to show the world who they are without letting that compromise their professional relationships?

I certainly can't quarrel with their observations. Some of the most neurotic therapists I know go out of their way to 'lock down' their profiles. Some of the healthiest ones aren't even remotely fazed by others looking them up. This isn't a facebook issue. Any concerns you have about the technology might be better seen as concerns you have with your own identity and your own insecurities.
 
VB....you make some good points, but my concern about FB and patients reading up on my life in general is more about boundaries, and less about me 'hiding' that part of me. I do encourage honesty, communication, and dialogue between myself and my patients, but there are professional boundaries for very good reasons. Admittedly I definitely fall on the 'conservative' side of what I share with patients....which is very very little. The point of humanizing yourself in their eyes is a factor, but I'd argue that the real reason is a desire to extend the relationship, or at least make the relationship more of a friendly/peer one, instead of what it is....a patient / clinical relationship.

I know my patients have looked me up (which led me to setting my profile to private), but the interest wasn't one of 'humanizing', but that of wanting to violate the set boundaries. If a patient constantly asks personal things of me, I would inquire why they want more personal information, and not focus as much on WHAT they asked, instead I'd look at WHY they asked it. I've found that the WHAT is the trojan horse for the WHY.

t
 
ha I personally post many fake things on my facebook. Thus if admissions want to check it out and see that I went to Harvard for my law degree, and MBA sitting in the same seat as GW BUSH, and went to Yale for my PhD in womens studies. Hey believe all you read on facebook and dont accept me. that just prevents me from learning from unintellegent people. Another thing, didnt we all learn in college that not all is true on the internet and that we can not trust things unless they are from specific sites. Specifically .GOV, .org etc..... anyways this is a funny topic and damn it you believe what you read on the net son! I hear employers are doing this as well. That is straight up GAY!!!!!!
 
vancouver boy - i block my facebook account because i have a stalker, and a restraining order doesn't quite do the trick... maybe you shouldn't be too quick to judge
 
Factor VIII said:
ha I personally post many fake things on my facebook. Thus if admissions want to check it out and see that I went to Harvard for my law degree, and MBA sitting in the same seat as GW BUSH, and went to Yale for my PhD in womens studies. Hey believe all you read on facebook and dont accept me. that just prevents me from learning from unintellegent people. Another thing, didnt we all learn in college that not all is true on the internet and that we can not trust things unless they are from specific sites. Specifically .GOV, .org etc..... anyways this is a funny topic and damn it you believe what you read on the net son! I hear employers are doing this as well. That is straight up GAY!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Please tell me you are not really in med school.
 
I keep my facebook friends list small because I use it to keep in touch with my friends who have moved all over, and since we're all close we talk about personal things. I don't think blocking clients from viewing my profile means I'm emotionally immature, I think it means I'm setting up boundaries and being professional. It's also not hysteria, there have been instances where people have lost jobs over profile material or been thrown out of organizations, schools, etc. Technology has essentially broken down a lot of boundaries and that isn't always a good thing. As students/professionals in the mental health field, we have a responsibility to set up boundaries and respect those of others.
 
Vancouver Boy --

I think it depends on the population you work with. For instance, adolescent girls with borderline qualities or those who in general are in need of boundaries and learning to respect them don't lend themselves to the best population to be seeing pictures of you hanging out with your buddies. The other thing about certain groups of clients is that, especially while in treatment, they really need to focus on thier own stuff and being able to cyberstalk clinicians is a way for them to avoid doing that. The less they know about the clincian outside of a professional setting, the better. People dealing with mental health issues have a higher tendency to have poor boundaries and won't necessarily just see your facebook profile as a more humanizing aspect but will go further, further than you want them to or are comfortable with. This does not make us neurotic, just sensible. It's also in the best interest of the client to learn boundaries. It sort of goes along the same lines as self-disclosure and its appropriate usage.

As far as employers or potential admissions boards, there's a reason why we have professional boundaries there as well.
 
I also want to add that some people lock or limit their profiles because of the increase of identify theft. The more a potential criminal knows about you, the easier it will be to steal your identity, ruin your credit, etc. It's like locking your doors on the Internet.
 
Psychbar said:
Let us all keep in mind that when we start seeing clients we might want to have our profiles set on private. I have a professor for clinical interviewing who says that many of your clients WILL look you up online.
Click to expand...

question: has anyone ever looked up their client?
 
This is a little scary, but really the only thing that people will see if they look at my Facebook profile is that I love musical theatre and read a lot of books. No pictures of me drinking or anything.

Though I just set it to private, just in case.
 
We should all start an SDN group on facebook 'cause we could make it private, haha.
 
I think that's a great idea!

I checked and there's already a group for all SDN members. Did you mean just for us psych students?
 
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