MySpace, your space, all our space

I'm a little intrigued by MySpace, and the assumptions of people who post to it. I don't know if it's advertised as a place where only your friends can read your posts. The mood seems to be, see, this secret is just between us, no one else can read our thoughts.

Friendly reminder here: thanks to search engines such as Technorati and IceRocket, it just isn't so - we all can see your stuff.

Not long ago, a prosecutor showed me print-outs from the My Space blog of one of my clients. The many pictures of my client making gang signs and hanging with his co-defendants were just a little bit corrosive to our previous theory of the defense.

Then there's this job-seeker:

... i am quitting smoking the good herb...

...i really want this new job at the public defenders office, and the only way to ensure i pass the piss test is to just quit smoking...

...i am positive i will start smoking again as soon as i get this job...

No matter where you stand on legalizing marijuana use, that's the sort of integrity we want in our p.d. co-workers, don't you think? I managed to find this post, and I'm not even one of those public defender investigators.

Sorry, Pisces, that you'll have to take a month off from the gentle herb; I know you haven't gone more than a few days without cannabis in the past seven years. But hey, good luck hiding this from the people doing the hiring. Surely the p.d.s in Indianapolis, Indiana aren't as clever as you, and won't know how to use the Internets.

Update: A.L., take the advice from your friend's comment:

...if you REALLY want this job--it might be best to scrub this and other similar posts from your account immediately... new trend of some employers includes googling potential employees and looking for my space profiles etc...

New trend? I was doing it back when I was a hiring guy, and that was '98 to '04. It wasn't all bad news from Google about my applicants, of course, and some of it could intrigue me enough to tip the decision in a particular applicant's favor.

On the other hand, inadvertently disclosing seven years of chronic doobage might just tip the decision the opposite way, even for the coolest p.d. office.

Update: Keep scrubbing!

...the marion country public defender's office is hiring...
...does anyone know a good detox drink?