現在是申請工作的旺季，也是許多研究生開始申請美國學校的時候了。不論你是前者還是後者，你都要謹慎處理你的online presence：因為你的committee非常有可能用你在facebook, twitter或google plus上面的訊息，來決定他們如何評價你，這可能直接或間接影響到他們是否錄取你。
The Chronicle of Higher Education最近一篇文章：Google-stalking job candidates: Tempting but risky, 裡面就說到這種情形。
An online search, meanwhile, might ferret out a piece of interesting information that didn’t make the application packet or give a glimpse of how candidates portray themselves out in the (virtual) world.
For the most part, faculty members find it perfectly natural to check out that public persona, thinking that "anything that is publicly available on the Internet is fair game," says Robert D. Sprague, an associate professor of business law at the University of Wyoming.
在這項survey當中顯示，48%的公司，會利用Google或其它搜尋引擎，搜尋申請者的資料。雖然這樣的行為在學術圈中更為敏感，但這是大家不可忽視的事實。在The City University of New York的網站上，是這麼告訴他們自己的學生的：
It is essential to have a robust and professional web presence if you are a graduate student on the job market, as you will be ‘Googled’ by the search-committee members at the institutions to which you apply
先不論這樣作是否合法，重要的是你該如何處理你的online presence。如果你的言論容易引起爭議，那建議還是三思之後，再決定是否張貼。