Unlocking
Word Meanings
Read
the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. profile (n.) – a short and informal list of information
that describes a person’s life, skill, and/or likings
Example: Companies study the
profiles of their employees to make sure they are qualified for the job.
2. personality (n.) – a part of a person’s character (or
inner traits)
Example: The man who often
jokes around has a pleasant personality.
3. extrovert (n.) – usually refers to a person who is
friendly and outgoing
Example: Extroverts usually
have a lot of friends because they can easily talk to anyone.
4. do away with (idiom) – to end or to stop doing something
Example: Some people cannot
do away from keeping unnecessary things.
Article
Read the text below.
A recent study claims
that companies may soon use the popular social networking site, Facebook, as a
tool to find the right employee for the job.
Jennifer Golbeck , an
American computer science professor, discovered that a person’s Facebook profile—which includes
information like favorite books, movies and activities—reveals his or her personality.
After studying around 300
profiles, Golbeck asked the participants to take a personality test which
measures their “openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion,
agreeableness and neuroticism.”
After the said test, she
found out that about 10% of a participant’s test score can be known through
studying his or her Facebook profile. As an example, Golbeck pointed out
how extroverts usually
have large networks of friends in Facebook. Meanwhile, those with long surnames tend to be easily angered
and worry a lot. Golbeck assumes that this might be because their surnames are
repeatedly being misspelled.
But Sam Gosling, a
psychologist from University of Texas, said that there are some aspects of a
person that cannot be measured using this kind of study. The study only measured
behavior, he added.
However, Gosling admits
that social networks provide a new way of studying human behavior and
personality which are crucial factors in decision-making.
In contrary, Golbeck
claims that this study enables companies to do away with personality
tests as Facebook profiles alone make it possible for them to know job
applicants.
Golbeck plans to support
her claims by conducting another study using Twitter accounts.
Viewpoint
Discussion
Enjoy
a discussion with your tutor.
Discussion A
Discussion A
·
Do
you believe everything that you read about a person online? Why or why not?
·
What
other ways do you think can be done to get to know people better?
Discussion B
·
How
can companies benefit from online profiles like Facebook?
·
What
are the disadvantages of using online profiles to find the right employee?
