Happy April Fools Day! I hope everyone is enjoying a day full of jokes and pranks. I’m sure SCOPE Co-Chair Glenn Altshuler will do something to my office this week, so shout out to him!

So in other news this week, I’m ready to bash on some people on Facebook! Surprisingly, amidst the bandwagons of mafia war playing, note writing, and formspring questions (don’t even get me started on that one), a new trend has emerged. Across the Facebook universe, thousands of users are changing their profile names in an attempt to squash potential employers from viewing “inappropriate” content.

This profile name change goes like this: currently on Facebook I am known as Erin Ennis. By changing my name to Erin Joan, instead, I will be able to easily circumvent those employers and school officials looking through my pictures and wall comments…are you freaking kidding me!?

Sure, you may make it a little more difficult for the average employer just looking for a simple snoop. They won’t find your name the first time they look. But any experienced Facebook stalker, or really anyone with half a brain, can find your profile in less time than it took you to change your last name to your middle.

I mean really…did anything else on your profile change? Did you change your activities? Your friends? The information about your school, your email address, your (eek) phone number, or the place that you live? Anyone with some basic information about a person’s personal life can find them on Facebook, with or without a full name.

If changing my name to Erin Joan is not going to stop the potential job market from finding out about all my nasty, dirty, online secrets, what will? OBVIOUSLY the answer is not posting the information in the first place! Why on earth if you did not want someone finding out something would you post it on one of the most public venues on the Internet? Why post those pictures of you puking up a funnel worth of alcohol? Maybe you really should not have posted those pictures of your super short and skanky Halloween costume. Or maybe you should be more careful at parties that you obviously should not be at. Angry about inappropriate comments your friends make on Facebook? JUST DELETE THEM. Changing your Facebook name does nothing for one’s integrity: it just makes you look like a fool for thinking it would help you land that super job.

So really…stop with the “Elizabeth” or “Marie” or whatever other middle name might be lingering out there in cyber land. Changing your Facebook profile name is just another pointless trend that makes you look rather silly…although I suppose it may be appropriate for this week. Happy April Fools Day for all those fools out their on Facebook!