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Take a tip from 'Mark Zuckerberg': Change your name

Legally changing your name means you can leave your online identity behind. What could this mean for the Generation Y?
Written by Charlie Osborne, Contributing Writer

There may not be anything too incriminating on your Facebook page, but future employers may think otherwise.

Just a few pictures of you drinking? One of you being thrown in a dumpster by friends at 3 a.m.? Never mind; at least it shows you're a 'sociable' character and 'enjoy working as part of a team'.

But some of the younger generations are beginning to use fake names in order to hide their Facebook profiles from snooping future employers.

Would you consider going under an alias on Facebook to avoid legal issues, or future problems with employment? Perhaps you should.

Considering this, the latest legal embroilment of Facebook and a user warrants some attention. Changing your name could be a step in the right direction to conceal your online activities.

(Source: CBS News)

An Israeli entrepreneur, currently involved in a legal dispute with Facebook, has legally changed his name to Mark Zuckerberg, much to the fury of the Facebook co-founder himself.

After Facebook filed a suit against the entrepreneur, Rotem Guez (sorry, 'Mark Zuckerberg') decided to get revenge, by becoming a thorn in the side of the social networking giant.

In apparent violation of Facebook's terms of service, his 'Like button' emporium was closed down. Drawing on the popularity of the 'Like' function, he sold advertisers fans for their company pages to help expand their online presence and influence social marketing.

Complete with his own Facebook fan page, 'Mark Zuckerberg' collected several thousand 'Likes' himself. Other Zuckerberg's exist, but this is the first to be known to have changed his name legally.

More than this move being ironic and highly amusing, it does touch on the basic facet of Facebook: authentic identity.

On deciding to change his name, he was able to leave his 'Facebook' identity behind. This could be a lesson to those about to enter the workplace, particularly in relation to the new Timeline rollout.

Many students are hiding their profiles, changing their searchable email addresses, and tightening up their privacy settings. A recent Microsoft survey found that 70 percent of recruiters and hiring managers in the United States have rejected an applicant based on information they found online.

Your online profile can give audiences far more information than you release on a resume. Prospective employers can find out far more about you from your social media trail than the job application form itself.

Using a fake identity is against Facebook's terms of service, but there are few ways to prove exactly when fake profiles are created -- an exploit used by celebrities, company promoters, and public figures.

Perhaps the general public will begin to use this 'feature' in order to hide information they would rather employers' don't see.

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