In the recent days, I randomly checked the Facebook Fans Page (FB Page) of PT Excellent Infotama Kreasindo. I saw that there were many profile photos of people I didn’t know claiming to work at Excellent. When I checked the details, I found that more than 10 people were claiming to work at Excellent, even though I know for sure that they have never worked/interned at Excellent.
Some of my colleagues who previously worked at Excellent wrote about Excellent as their former employer, which I appreciate. What surprised me is that there were people who wrote that they were still working at Excellent, even though they had never worked at Excellent or had any connection with Excellent. One of them even claimed to be the President Director of Excellent, even though that position doesn’t even exist at Excellent.
When I searched for this issue, I found that it is one of the weaknesses of Facebook that it doesn’t have any preventive mechanisms when someone claims to work at a certain place. The administrator of a Facebook Fans Page should be able to approve or reject people who claim to work at a place with a Facebook Fans Page. It’s not just me who complains about this issue, as there are many who have also complained about it.
Since Facebook currently doesn’t have a mechanism to remove people who make false claims like this, I contacted each of them one by one and asked if they really worked at Excellent (which of course they didn’t). I just asked out of curiosity. Then I suggested that they remove the false information.
Out of the ten people, only one apologized to me, saying that they had written it when they were still acting foolishly, and I appreciated their apology. The others didn’t respond to my message, but when I checked, they had disappeared from the list of people who work at Excellent. Maybe they also realized that it was wrong to claim to work at a small company like Excellent because I know all of its team members. Maybe they could have gotten away with claiming to work at a large company, but the consequence would be that they could be taken to court if the company wasn’t happy about it.
Looking at the consequences, I think it’s very reasonable for Facebook to add an approval feature for the add employer history feature because it can be dangerous and exploited by people with bad intentions. Someone could claim to work at a reputable company with the intention of cheating or beautifying their employment history. A scammer could also claim to be a pilot at a reputable airline by buying a similar-looking uniform.
On the other hand, I sometimes also wonder about those who just put down their place of work like this without thinking. I see that there are people who claim to work at a big company or have a high position, even though they have never worked there or had a low position. Maybe they just want to look good in front of their friends, or maybe they are trying to show off.
In conclusion, I think it is important for Facebook to add an approval feature for the add employer history feature because it can prevent scams and protect the reputation of companies. At the same time, I also think it is important for people to be more responsible and careful when adding information about their place of work on Facebook.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
