As we have noted before, we spend lots of time on social media. And sometimes, we commit blunders! So here’s a question for you. Should YOU unfriend social media content?
Consider these prior posts: Do You Protect Your Reputation? Social Media Policy for Employees. Does Social Media Use Harm Your Career? Don’ts for Businesses on Social Media. What People Want from Brands On Social Media.
Unfriend Social Media Content? TMI
Sometimes, we realize as soon as we hit the enter key that we should not have posted certain content. Other times, we may not know that our content is improper until someone points that out. Still other times, we never recognize that we have improper content. In those instances, no one points it out to us. And this can be a BIG problem if a potential employer sees improper content. It may be even worse if our present employer notices such content.
Trend Micro is a leader in secure content and threat management. Its headquarters are in Tokyo. The firm operates in more than 30 countries around the globe. The Security Intelligence Blog represents the official blog of TrendLabs, the research, development, and support arm of Trend Micro. “Researchers, engineers, and other experts in various security threats work 24 hours a day, seven days a week to deliver solutions to the plethora of threats that confront users and businesses on a daily basis.”
One TrendLabs blog post covers the risk of placing content on social media. The infographic focuses on the risks of social media content. “You have the right to remain private. Anything you post can and will be used against you.” The infographic includes Facebook, Google +, LinkedIn, Mixi (from Japan), Pinterest, Sina Weibo (from China), Tumblr, and Twitter. Click the infographic for a larger view.
I always find myself scrubbing the information I post on social media before I add a new friend, especially an employer. All of my profiles are on private, so I do not think about the content I post until a coworker tries to add me on Facebook or follow me on Instagram. That being said, I am careful to never let any of my direct supervisors add or follow me on any social media. I try my best to keep my private and work lives completely separate.
The best strategy for keeping your social media clean is to imagine your interviewer looking over your shoulder as you post. This will definitely deter the late night drunken posts that many feel the need to share. Employers are becoming more and more aware of what your social media represents, it is an extension of your personality. Now if this extension only shows risque pictures and elicit activities then the employer, like anyone else, has a right to judge accordingly.
It is becoming more difficult nowadays to remember how important it is to be careful about what we post on social media. Personally, I have used Facebook, Instagram and Twitter since a young age. I, like many other people in my generation, are accustomed to posting many things on social media such as my birthday, hometown, education and family members, as the post described. I have never realized that having this information to the public could put me at risk.
Nowadays it’s extremely important for people to make their accounts private. There are more and more stalkers and there’s always a huge controversy about privacy. I personally always make it a priority to have my accounts private and to be careful with what I post because it could hurt me in the long run without knowing it.
Since technology plays such a pivotal role for society today it is imperative for users to be conscientious of what they post on all social media platforms. I believe that it is just common sense for people not to post certain things even if they are on private. People need to remember (especially college and highschool students) to not post anything risky (for example a picture with alcohol or if they are leaving on vacation).
Social media is everywhere and relates to all aspects of our lives, including employment. Employers know that our social media pages are a good way to find more about their potential employees. They are probably one of the most accurate representations of ourselves. They all contain valuable information. It is very important to monitor what you post and make sure it’s all something you wouldn’t mind your boss to see at some point.
When posting to social media, common sense needs to be used. making your account private is simply not enough anymore, as many employers have special access to accounts that would normally be unseen. Those who post risky content are putting themselves at a major disadvantage in the eyes of employers. In my opinion, this is natural selection of some sorts. Those who are more focused on their image and online presence to the point where they consistently post controversial content tend to be less ambitious and less interested in a professional job.
Since social media plays a huge role in mostly everybody’s lives today, it is obviously extremely important to be more than aware of not only what you are posting, but how what you’re posting looks from somebody else’s eyes. For example, an employer, a school looking to accept you or not, a family member, etc. A lot of people think that they know what is or isn’t okay to post, but in reality we can never be sure what is being looking at in what way. There can be major disadvantages that are far worse than we realize. With so many platforms today it is so easy to lose focus on what you post and who you post to. I think the chart shown is shocking to look at because so many apps or websites do use your location and you may not even be aware of it.
I believe when posting on social media you should always be under the assumption that an employer will be able to see the post, even if you are on private. In today’s world i think too many people think that since their account is on private that its safe to post what ever they want which is not the case. There are even court cases where the employee that was fired for posting something inappropriate tries to go after the employer. Best way to make sure this doesn’t happen is just think a minute before clicking that post button, Is this something that you would want you boss or family to see? if not than it clearly isn’t something to put out on the web in front of the whole world.
This topic is quite interesting for me. As for me, I only post content on the WeChat which is a relatively private social media. I block my families in WeChat since they always perceive my contents quite differently from my friends, but what is funny is that I don’t block my colleagues. The definition of proper content varies from person to person. If we always consider too much, we could choose to keep away from social media. The social media should be a platform that could connect the world immediately. The privacy setting could help me a lot actually. In terms of the information security, I think it is inevitable to make yourself public nowadays. The point is that we are supposed to protect our private and important information as well as possible.
I have often heard different opinions as to whether employers check social media prior to hiring someone. Regardless, I think it is important to create a clean internet profile. However, I think it is important to separate business and pleasure and it is unnecessary for a company to check a Twitter or Facebook profile under most circumstances.
But, more and more, they are. 🙂
Social media continues to grow in society and will continue to. It is interesting to hear that employers check potential candidates social media and can be very beneficial in finding the proper candidate. A person’s social media can tell an employer a lot about a candidate, way more than what a resume can.
When reading stuff like this is always freaks me out. Thats why all my social media is on private and I never post anything that I wouldn’t want my mom or future interview to see. This is also scary having social media because of Identity theft. They now have access for basic information on us now making it easier to Identity theft. The percentage of identity theft is rising and its because of the internet. Theres no really way of stopping this other than not having social media.
It is amazing to me the amount of information that so many people are now comfortable with everyone online knowing when I vividly remember when I was younger the amount of password changes my parents enforced and how much they told me when I was on Webkinz to never make friends online and to block anyone who talked to me that I wasn’t absolutely sure was my real life friend. To see the world change so much in just my short life is a weird thing to see people’s values go from private to public so quickly.