Facebook – it’s a tool and toy many college students have come to live by. The social networking Web site www.facebook.com allows students to find long-lost friends among its 39 million users, share photos of what they did over the weekend and tell anyone what movie they are a fan of at any given moment.

But what might seem like a great way to pass the time could actually hinder chances of getting a job if you don’t take the right precautions, said Lana Kunkel, assistant director of the Career Services Center.

Kunkel said some businesses will hire students, and have them use Facebook to research prospective employees, which can be a pro or a con.

It can be positive if students’ Facebook profiles describe their extracurricular activities, such as volunteering and being active in campus organizations, she said. But it can be bad if it includes pictures and other details about students’ lives that project them in an unprofessional way.

“Most of the time, it turns out to be a con,” Kunkel said.

Bowling Green senior Kaitlynn Kirby said she put her Facebook privacy settings on their highest limits so random people couldn’t look at her profile.

She said she had always had concerns about future employers looking at Facebook and other online profiles.

One good thing about Facebook is that it allows for strict privacy features, unlike some other networking Web sites, Kunkel said.

Facebook now has an application that allows people to search names on any search engine and find Facebook profiles.

Shelbyville junior Logan Lacefield said she’s worried about people being able to look up her account through a search engine.

“There may be a few pictures on there I wouldn’t want my mom to see,” she said.

As long as students keep up with the social networking sites and the new features they add, they shouldn’t have to worry about someone seeing something embarrassing, Kunkel said.

“We all need to take responsibility for our own reputations,” she said.

Students also need to be aware of photos that their friends “tag” of them, Kunkel said. Even if a person’s profile is private, if their friends’ profiles aren’t, unflattering pictures may still be available, she said.

Kunkel recommended periodically going through your photos or searching your name to see what pops up.

Kirby agrees.

Any photo she wouldn’t want anyone else to see is “untagged,” she said.

“There comes an age when you need to get off Facebook anyway,” Kirby said.

Reach Heather Ryan at diversions@chherald.com.