Whether you've just been on a date or are recruiting new staff, the first thing most of us do after meeting someone new is look them up online. And if nothing comes up, there's a good chance you'll be suspicious.
In fact, being absent from social media these days is so taboo that a writer on tech news website Slashdot suggests "not having a Facebook account could be the first sign that you are a mass murderer", after it was reported that mass murderers James Holmes and Anders Behring Breivik don't have Facebook accounts.
While most of us wouldn't automatically assume someone who shuns Facebook is a psychopath, Dr Lauren Rosewarne, a social researcher at the University of Melbourne, told MSN NZ that an absent social media profile can make people wary.
"There is an assumption in our internet age that you should be able to google anyone and find something about them," she says.
"Usually for most people Facebook is their only public profile. So if we google someone and they don't even have a bare minimum Facebook page, that might give some people reason to wonder why not."
According to Hays recruiters, 60 percent of employers use social media to gain a deeper understanding of a candidate's skills and experience and 51 percent of job seekers change their privacy settings when going for a job.
But while the knowledge that employers are likely to stalk your site might tempt you to delete your online presence altogether, that might actually prove counter-productive.
"People would wonder whether they have a social life or whether they are up with technology," Rosewarne points out.
"That might make them seem weird because they don't seem to be bothering to participate in the social networking that is accepted as standard for people of a certain age group."
Dr John Lenarcic, a Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology lecturer in business IT and logistics, told ninemsn that the emphasis on Facebook profiles is greater in certain industries.
"If it was an advertising role, people wonder why they are not on Facebook," he says.
"Anyone who has a Facebook page is promoting themselves as a brand and they might think if you don't have a Facebook page you're not selling yourself enough. It almost becomes like auditioning for a part in a play."
In fact, Facebook is seen as such a big part of recruitment that a lot of Australian university courses are insisting students set up social media profiles to boost their chances of securing jobs when they graduate.
"There is an expectation that there would be some kind of online presence," Rosewarne said.
"It's symptomatic of today's culture where we want quick and cheap access to information. Facebook is our go-to at the moment. But give it a handful of years and we'll be using something else and expecting people to have a profile somewhere else."
For now, the best thing job-hunters can do is have a tasteful social media presence.
"Most candidates have a social media profile ... and a growing number of hiring managers believe that such content can give a good insight into a candidate's character and likely cultural fit with the organisation," Hays managing director Nick Deligiannis said in relation to a recent study the company ran.
"In such cases, a Facebook profile with a public setting, content on video-sharing sites or on forums or blogs may reveal information that could make an interviewer see you in a different light."
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