I received a fascinating email from Dennis Kinney, the news director of KXXV and KRHD in the Waco, TX region. (Dennis has given us permission to use the email.) He points us to a very interesting situation that happened in his newsroom.
I’m a news director, which means that I’m constantly hiring, and that means that my phone calls are screened by our receptionist.
A job candidate contacted me on my personal Facebook page. I have had no previous contact with this person. Basically, he sent a cover letter that listed his interest and qualifications.
When I mentioned this in our newsroom, some people felt that his actions showed initiative and demonstrated social media skills. Others felt that it was inappropriate and was equivalent to calling my home phone or showing up at my house.
I was surprised by the debate, and I felt that it may make for an interesting debate for the Lost Remote community.
First – thanks for bringing this to us, Dennis. I look forward to hearing what the LR Faithful have to say. On to the topic at hand:
My opinion? The applicant was smart. Nothing in the Kinney’s settings blocked him, so the applicant went ahead. I agree with the people who felt his use of Facebook was web-savvy. And I’d give the applicant bonus points for attracting my attention. After all, that’s a reporter’s job. Good reporters are intrepid and clever. The applicant also showed he understands social media. That would also mark him up a notch in my newsroom, particularly if we weren’t adept at social media. This isn’t the equivalent of calling you at your house. There, you have a expectation of privacy. On Facebook, you are public. But, should you wish, you can change your level of privacy. Here’s how:
If you don’t want to get messages from people you aren’t “friends” with, you can block them. Go to Account -> Privacy Settings ->View Settings (under the “Connecting on Facebook” headline). There you will find, under the topic “Send you messages,” the ability to set permissions for people who can contact you. You can choose “Everyone” (which is the default), “Friends of Friends” or “Friends Only.” Not the easiest thing to navigate, I’ll give you that. But it is there.
So I say good for the applicant for catching your eye. I understand if you don’t want to open yourself to being flooded with applicants via social media. And, if that’s the case, just change your privacy settings. What say you all?
