It appears that Facebook can be used for more than just social networking.
A new study conducted by Northern Illinois University, the University of Evansville and Auburn University suggests that Facebook profiles may be used as an accurate indicator of job performance.
“From my own experience, people I know with more pictures online generally did tend to be very outgoing in person,” said freshman Ryan Bartoszek. “Screening Facebook profiles can be especially helpful for companies looking for people with good social skills.”
To conduct the experiment, the researchers recruited “raters”— four human-resources professionals and students—who were familiar with Facebook to evaluate the profiles of 56 users. These four judges each examined each of the profiles for approximately 10 minutes before putting forth their evaluation. The profiles were graded based on the five major personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.
Six months after the profile examinations were made, the researchers compared them with the evaluations from the 56 users’ work supervisors. The results showed a strong correlation between the two assessments, particularly for traits such as intellectual curiosity, agreeability and conscientiousness. In general, raters gave positive evaluations to students who traveled, had more Facebook friends, and listed a wide range of hobbies and interests. On the other hand, partying photos did not necessarily factor negatively against the student; raters saw the students to be extroverted and outgoing. There is a limit, however, to this rule. Although a picture of someone holding a beer may not be a negative indicator, a picture of that person being drunk in a ditch obviously is obviously not a good sign of high work performance.
The raters also examined the types of pictures that were on each profile. If the pictures and references showed signs frequent traveling, it may signal that the person is open-minded and willing to try new experiences. Also, the number of Facebook friends also has a correlation with extroversion.
The results from this study reinforce another study evaluating the correlation of Facebook profiles with academic success. It also supports the notion that Facebook may be used as a recruitment tool for jobs.
As for current Duke Students, many found the results from the study to be convincing. Others expressed their doubts toward the findings.
“I don’t think it is a good indicator because I do not update my Facebook profile very diligently,” said freshman Jay Canarick. “At best, online information can only give a vague overview of a person.”
Researchers admit that there is still work to be done. Though the current study offers some validation, there is yet to be a definitive connection between Facebook profiles and job performance.
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