Canadian Facebook users clean up

Reports on how naïve and/or careless Facebook social networkers are leaving themselves open to trouble by allowing uncompromising content on their Facebook profile are commonplance. But now more positive news from Canada suggests many Facebook users have wised up and are now policing their Facebook profiles more carefully.

According to a study of 1200 Facebook users, jointly undertaken by Canadian market research firm ZINC Research, just under half of all respondents said they would be happy to let their employer see their Facebook profile.

"The days of getting drunk and getting all your pictures posted online, that's gone," Brian Singh, managing director of ZINC Research told Reuters.

Facebook driving business

Moreover, the authors of the report also claim that Facebook – far from being something employees use to waste valuable company time with – should be considered as an invaluable ally to business, allowing firms to extend their network and reach valuable new business partners.

“Young adults have adopted Facebook as the de facto communication and networking platform,” said Singh. “Companies that grasp this reality and develop a Facebook-related attraction and retention strategy will better connect to their workforce and get the upper hand in business,” said Singh.

The poll also discovered that out of Facebook’s nine million Canadian users, almost nine in 10 Canadians aged between 18 and 34 years old already had a Facebook account, making it by far the most popular social networking site in Canada.