Facebook and pony dilemma

[Bright_Glow]

Hi guys I haven't been around for a while becaus I'm kinda super buisy lately and I'm preparing to finish University and get my degree in June.
Anyway I write here because I use facebook for a few years and I would like to ask out your opinian about a dilemma I have.


So as I said I use facebook for a few years and I still kinda learn to use it and now I have the dilemma to how mutch shall I public or share about my my MLP or Brony intrest especially since facebook publicated this timeline thing.


The other reason is why it is important for me is that I srtudy to be a social worker and I would like to work with handicapped child or old people and I doubt that it would be beneficial if people would kow I'm a pony fan. I read on the iternet that everything we share trough/on facebook is public and everyone can see et even my future employer and in some jobs the employers alredy use facebook to check their future employee.


I alredy chacked out all my posts on my timeline and I hide my shared MLP stuff but I'm afraid they would still able to find out I'm a Brony from the list of my friends because some of them has got pony avatar.

[FlyingPonyMonster]

Oh I have this!! Basically I have an album to upload pony pictures to and limit access so only people who know I collect can see! I'm not ashamed of it but lots of people I work with are on FB and parents don't approve so it's easier!!!

[kaoskat]

I........ Don't see why a future employer would care if you like ponies..... I mean,, it really shouldn't affect your ability to work and it doesn't show some character flaw. And frankly if my friends and family don't like me the way I am, they don't deserve to be a part of my world anyway. But if it really bothers you, make a "pony people" list and only share pony stuff with them. You can also hide your friends list I believe, so these people you are worried about won't be able to see your friends' pony avatars.

[Kiwi]

You can make your profile very limited - it's in the privacy settings. You can even make it so they can't search for you (so they'd never find you had a facebook account at all).

[melodys_angel]

Yeah, if you are concerned about it, there should be something in your privacy settings to help.

It sounds like you are going onto a profession where having an interest in this might be a good thing.  Keep open^^

[stopxmotion]

It's not illegal or a weird fetish or anything. I don't see why you should need to hide your interest.

[DoctorMowinckel]

I commonly stomp around and lecture strangers about gender equality (not really), so I have no problem being open about my pony hobby. My ponyness, if you will. I list Rainbow Dash and Applejack as my favourite athletes on Facebook, I talk to other pony folk about ponies, I will link to pony related things that I think non-pony folk will like.

If you tell me ponies are for girls I will so go off on a tangent about assumed gender roles and make you really sick of me really fast.

If you do use your real name on the facebooks, which is a silly thing to do, you can change your privacy settings so only friends can see, or only specific people can see certain things. I'm aware that some potential clients might scope out my profile, so the only things I have public are pictures that are on my photography portfolio.

[Bunny-san]

I can see where your concern is rooted. There is talk among genuine crazy people about how bronies are child moslestors ect etc. Not true, NATURALLY, but uninformed idiots could take your hobby the wrong way, and hence, your concern. SO. My advice is that if you're concerned about it, use the grandma rule. Do you want your grandma to know? No? Then don't post it. Its like naked pictures. Generally, anything you think a potential employer would deem undesirable, just don't post it. I mean, lock down your account by all means, but Facebook changess their privacy settings daily it feels like, so you really have to keep up with it. Why go to that effort when you can just *not* post it in the first place? *Shrug* that's my take on it . Its a shame that you have to think like that and be so careful, but you kind of have to be :\ ESPECIALLY if you intend on working with kids...Parents are crazy folks. But you can always open a separate account that's not attached to your NAME, and have your pony things there

[Sleepytail]

I too get where you're coming from, and I would suggest either deleting the facebook under your name and making a pseudonymous account, or not posting stuff you're worried about getting out at all.  Ponies, comparably, aren't a big deal (compared to people who post illegal activities and the like!), but Facebook has been known to make things that are private suddenly not private.  It's all up to how cautious you want to be, of course.  Some employers don't check Facebook at all!

I wouldn't worry about your friends, though.  I think any employer is going to understand that Facebook friends doesn't mean you approve of what they post.  How many of us have family members or friends we can't unfriend but who post things we're actively against?  I know I do! 

[ZennaBug]

You can make your privacy settings really secure.  But some employers will be able to look anyway.  When my husband was applying for police jobs, he signed a paper for his background check that they could get into his facebook with unrestricted access.  Any government agency can see your stuff in a background check.  His sister was being a nasty B at the time and when his interview came after the check, they asked him about her very nasty posts and he had to explain them.  It's just something to think about.  If your job requires a background check, they will very likely see anything you put on facebook.

[Clockwork]

Oooh, that's kinda spooky. I've had FB for a few years, and I am able to look back at every New Year and cringe at my behaviour in the past year...and I've never really deleted much on my FB, even though I no longer use it really.

As for ponies...I'm open about my love for ponies. My nametag at work has some pony stickers on it and I talk about my collection adventures all the time. It never occurred to me that people might lump me in with the creepiest of the bronies just for that... Same as with how I'm a furry. People will assume the worst of me when I say that, which is why I usually don't. I didn't realise ponies would become equal to that! It stinks, too...I openly voice my dissent for some of the worse things that happen among bronies while never vilifying the entire bunch. But...I guess some people will generalise no matter how specific the info they're given.

Yeesh.

[DJ Midli]

I........ Don't see why a future employer would care if you like ponies..... I mean,, it really shouldn't affect your ability to work and it doesn't show some character flaw.

This, Everyone at my work knows I'm a huge brony and MLP fan/collector. Including the management team, the only line I got from it was "As long as this doesn't affect your work in the store we don't care from a workplace standpoint... On a personal level however we find this facinating".

Since this I've been promoted to a supervisory position, so I know ,y love of all things pony isn't going to hold me back with this company at least .

If you tell me ponies are for girls I will so go off on a tangent about assumed gender roles and make you really sick of me really fast.

Best defence ever against those who try to use the "Its for little girls" line, Especially if you add in "Do you have an issue if an older female wants to watch GI Joe?", lovely logical entrapment with that one


That said, I would advise against listing your love of pony in a resume/CV (Unless of course you are applying to a animation/arts/somewhat relevant to ponies job xD )

[tehrin]

I don't really see ponies as something that would prohibit you from getting a job. :/  It's no different than say, Barbie collectors, Lego collectors, or other vintage toy collectors. It is very popular now, but I think the vast majority of the populace isn't quite aware of there being a large adult male following. When I tell a lot of people I like ponies, they still think of the 80's ones, and they're not even aware that there have been any since.

What you spend with your money is your business and not theirs. Unless it will directly effect your position at your job. For example, alcohol and drug abuse.  That's MAINLY what they are looking for, pictures of you at drunken parties, beer in hand, duck-lipped and looking irresponsible.

When asked, you could always say that one of your hobbies is toy collecting and animation. That in and of itself isn't very weird at all! Not quite the *norm* (in that adults should only watch live action programming and sports). But it's fairly common with most people in their 20's - 30's being animation fans, or toy collectors. It doesn't make them irresponsible, but just shows that they're a child at heart. So it's not exactly a bad thing for a social worker.

When you start getting into law enforcement or government jobs, that's when you really need to be careful about what you put online about yourself. I have a friend who works for the department of state and he has to be cautious about what is being posted. But he does allow some of his interests to show.