A handful of experts queried by Network World say techies actually have less to worry about compared to workers in more heavily regulated industries. Financial services and public sector government jobs, for example, may have more of an incentive to peer into a candidate's social media life as part of what some call an alarmingly more popular trend.

"The technology industry seems better than average in striking a balance between the personal and professional lives of workers," says Andrea Matwyshyn, associate professor of legal studies and business ethics at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Technology companies seem more open to supporting individual freedom of speech and expression, she says. There's also, she suspects, a level of comfort technology companies may have toward their employees, encouraging them to be creative, free-thinking individuals. Technology companies are in many cases creating the tools that run these social media sites, she notes.

Nonetheless, there have been increased efforts by employers in some industries to ask for the credentials to social media sites, and employees are finding ways to fight back.

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