Social Media 8

Today I am writing about how Maryland has become the first state to outlaw employers from asking for your username and password for social networking sites. This article can be found here http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/md-becomes-first-state-to-pass-bill-outlawing-social-media-password-requests-by-employers/2012/04/20/gIQAYarFVT_story.html. This article explains how Maryland went about this process. Maryland had a bill passed which will keep managers from looking at password protected content on your social media networks. Their reasoning behind passing the bill is that employers violate potential employee privacy and also intimidates them. A man named Robert Collins was reinterviewed for recertification as a corrections officer after a leave of absence and was asked for his password and username. He could do nothing but watch as the employer roamed through his Facebook pictures, wall post, and private messages looking for reasons not to rehire him. This case right here is one of the driving forces behind the state of Maryland pushing this bill to get signed and passed. They wanted to prevent others from feeling what this man felt while trying to get his job back. I personally feel that Maryland has taken the appropriate steps in ensuring a better interviewing process.