News from the New York Times that prospective members of President-elect Barack Obama’s administration are facing an unprecedented questionnaire is making a quick run around the Web.
The most notable piece of it for social media enthusiasts is the question asking for applicants to provide copies of any blog posts and comments on blogs. Here’s a screen shot:
If you can’t read that, it says “Please list and, if readily available, provide a copy of each book, article, column or publication (including but not limited to any posts or comments on blogs or other websites) you have authored, individually or with others. Please list all aliases or “handles” you have used to communicate on the Internet.”
Seriously?
Is there anyone on the planet who right now who keeps a Word doc on their desktop to keep an ongoing record of their Web presence and blog comments? Even if you’ve made just a dozen comments on blogs in the last year, we’re talking a lot of time to track those down – if it’s even possible to find them all.
Every tweet on Twitter? Every status update on Facebook? All your user names?
Here’s another interesting question for the job-seekers with Obama:
It says “If you have ever sent an electronic communication, including but not limited to an email, text message or instant message, that could suggest a conflict of interest or be a possible source of embarrassment to you, your family, or the President-Elect if it were made public, please describe.”
Uh… define “possible”.
Is this paranoia, some CYA or just plain smart vetting in a crazy Web 2.0 world for some pretty important high-ranking jobs?
There certainly are some other issues with the questionnaire being pointed out, including information about gun ownership. But the social media aspects of this may point to a day when all government agencies, corporations, colleges… you name it…. start asking you the same questions.
And we’ll either have to take the time to track down and turn over the information, or not be a candidate for the job.
Or stop blogging, commenting on blogs, using Twitter, Facebook, etc…
Subscribe to Wheel on the Web via email
