More and more, employers are looking to the Internet to profile candidates for open positions as well as looking at the behavior of existing employees. Social networking sites are a good example--no employer wants to keep an employee around that is loose with what they say or do. Our forums are another example--in the past, we used to get into some pretty strong battles here in these forums and "get away with it". Now it seems the world is changing fast and there's consequences for what we do and say online. Not only does this apply to adults, it also applies to children as well. I've never been the victim of that, but I know the day is coming for the next generation.Is it legal? I don't know--we have people from so many different countries here. I live in the U.S. and all my life have lived with the concept of "Freedom of Speech", yet I also understand that I have to be as responsible with what I say online as I am when I am offline. Freedom is different from responsibility. I didn't always understand this, even as an adult--experience around the web and watching forums has helped me and now I pay close attention to what I say, where I post, and what I write.What's encouraging is I am seeing more and more members realize this and many have changed in the way they respond in these forums.I love discussing the hobby, and love reading the discussions. Lately I read more, and comment less. Every day someone talks about a new download, or new tweak, and for the sheer joy of the hobby I make myself busy trying their ideas out. I don't use the simulators as much as I used to since I am in the prime of life, but when I use them, I enjoy them more thanks to the membership here.Anyway, in case you see a difference in my manners in these forums, I am doing so with the idea that we live in a new reality, and not a bad one at that.Regards,John

John, a very interesting point and i completely agree with what you say.I can not count the amount of times I have decided not to post a reply after typing it out. Not because it is untruthful, but because I believe words and sentances may be misinterpreted due to the fact that facial expressions, body language and emotions cannot be seen through a computer screen. I often use a "Smiley" to insure that my messages are taken without offence!I really enjoy partaking in mature, sensible conversations even when they do become a little heated. It's when people become childish and as you mentioned, irresponsible that annoys me no end.

That's bad news to a lot of the posters on the FlyTampa forum. Most of them will never get a new job if employers happen to see what some of them say over there, lol.

That's bad news to a lot of the posters on the FlyTampa forum. Most of them will never get a new job if employers happen to see what some of them say over there, lol.

:( so true

:(

I've always wondered about this...I have a fairly common name, one step away from being a "John Smith", so what if there is some other guy with the same name running a website advocating something totally bizarre.Do I get tarnished with his brush?

I've always wondered about this...I have a fairly common name, one step away from being a "John Smith", so what if there is some other guy with the same name running a website advocating something totally bizarre.Do I get tarnished with his brush?

I doubt it. I would think it would take more than that. Even in my case, there's several people sharing my first an last name throughout the country and a few share an interest in flying. But if people are active everywhere, and have the same patterns of speech and responses and those jive with the way a resume reads or the way an interview takes shape, I think it will be easy for employers to track them. Now it is not happening much but it is happening more and more. Whether there's a line employers cannot cross depends on how active a role we take in the political process. There has to be a line drawn, a point of privacy that we can protect. Problem is, from country to country the law changes. And we live in a world of global companies.Regards,John

I have a fairly uncommon name personally. I have realized to calm down over time, and some of the arguments I've gotten involved in I do regret, however generally speaking, I don't try to get in fights anymore unless I have to. Even compared to this time last year, I've seriously mellowed out. I still personally feel that some members of the community need a wake up call though. As a general rule for anyone who hasn't been convinced yet, remember that unless the employer knows you beforehand, there's good odds that one or two major incidents would ruin your chances of employment.

Doesn't affect me....I am self employed and none of my customers know I post anything on flightsim forums.I could never work for an employer again for the rest of my life :(

The internet is filled with more fiction than fact. If you choose to trust input that is so seriously flawed as the internet for hiring decisions, you probably aren't someone I'd want to work for to begin with. After all, there's fact... there's fiction... there's the internet.

The internet is filled with more fiction than fact. If you choose to trust input that is so seriously flawed as the internet for hiring decisions, you probably aren't someone I'd want to work for to begin with. After all, there's fact... there's fiction... there's the internet.

That's how I am beginning to feel Ed, Employers have brought this on themselves to a certain extent, but I still think we need to be wary. With a post I just read this afternoon here in these forums, it's getting to the point now where just running a forum will be a process full of so many headaches, public forums will go away. I think there's some out there who want to go back to the stone age by all the garbage they post and perform on the Internet. Problem is, they want to take everything for themselves and put themselves in a position to run things the way they see fit. I don't see anyone walking this planet earth who is capable of doing that.A lot of the people I respect here like Tom, David and Geof are doing a decent job weeding out the fiction here in the face of a lot of odd garbage, all for free. Maybe one day all will respect that, but perhaps that's just a fantasy.Regards,John

That's how I am beginning to feel Ed, Employers have brought this on themselves to a certain extent, but I still think we need to be wary. With a post I just read this afternoon here in these forums, it's getting to the point now where just running a forum will be a process full of so many headaches, public forums will go away. I think there's some out there who want to go back to the stone age by all the garbage they post and perform on the Internet. Problem is, they want to take everything for themselves and put themselves in a position to run things the way they see fit. I don't see anyone walking this planet earth who is capable of doing that.A lot of the people I respect here like Tom, David and Geof are doing a decent job weeding out the fiction here in the face of a lot of odd garbage, all for free. Maybe one day all will respect that, but perhaps that's just a fantasy.Regards,John

Agreed, there are a lot of jerks out there who want to ruin it for everyone. We do need to be thankful for those who enforce the rules and keep things flowing as smoothly as possible.