Facebook and Human Resource Management Research Paper - 1

Facebook and Human Resource Management - Research Paper Example It is important to highlight that Facebook is a social networking website. Simply put, it is an online or digital community wherein its users can socialize virtually: meet, interact, share photos, videos, news, among other information. It is a network of close to a billion users, connecting friends, families, strangers, coworkers, and so forth, regardless of location and time. The framework is simple and appealing: Profile pages are created so that individuals can post and share information about themselves. Gunter (2010) explained that such architecture creates an environment that encourages members to log in regularly in order to keep track of what friends and colleagues are doing, sharing their own activities, interact about interests and hobbies, send messages, and join groups and networks, among other things (p. 1). These characteristics and capabilities underscore why Facebook can impact human resources management. They reveal how majority of the workforce logs in to the websit e daily. In the United States, there are close to 100 million Facebook users. A Pew Research Center study found that of those who use social networking sites, 92 percent use Facebook, followed by MySpace with a meager 29 percent (Hampton et al., 2011). The bulk of Facebook users are dominated by 18-44 year olds, able-bodied people that constitute the workforce or at least could qualify as workers (Statista, 2012). These user demographics access their Facebook account at least a month through different devices such as computers and mobile phones.