Social media websites are a great way to connect with friends and family, as well as network with professionals, potential employers. There are so many websites available on the Internet that increases our ability to communicate with others worldwide.
However, there is a dark side to social media… creating the unemployable! College students beware. Job seekers beware. Employers are watching your Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and LinkedIn accounts, etc. The groups you join, comments you’ve posted, and pictures you’ve published could come back to haunt you!
Facebook spokesperson, Chris Hughes :
Using Facebook as a method of background-checking is certainly not what Facebook was designed to be used for… but there’s not much we can do about it.
Red and Black provides some tips in keeping your Facebook account “employer-friendly:”
“1. Avoid putting up pictures of you funneling beer or doing keg stands
2. Make sure all the pictures of you depict you as someone who enjoys clothes
3. Under no circumstances should you post a picture of yourself engaging in illegal activities
4. Untag embarrassing (or incriminating) photographs
5. Make sure your wall has more comments than ‘Hope you enjoyed last night as much as I did’
6. Steer away from groups such as ‘North American Man-Boy Love Association’ and ‘Dead Baby Enthusiasts’
7. Have more interests than ‘sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll’
8. Remember, ‘alcoholic’ is not an occupation
9. Don’t link to pornographic Web sites, even if you did start them
10. If you really have to, just make a fake account – no one will ever know it’s you. That is, unless they look up your e-mail in the UGA Directory.”
Already employed? Improper social media use can lead to you losing your job. Employers can monitor Internet usage from work computers. Using a “sick” day? “This is not the place to post pictures of yourself partying in the Caymans when you’re supposed to be out sick,” MonsterThinking. Ranters and venters beware “you can be fired for your speech in the workplace or outside the workplace if you work for a private employer. The First Amendment doesn’t protect you at work.”
Do you think the First Amendment should protect you within the workplace for comments made on your personal social media site?
Courtney Smedick 
This is a tough one because it reminds me of the twitter blog of last week. We talked about how celebrities can lose endorsements for what the post in social media and unfortunately this is going to happen to the “regular joes” out there. As a teacher, I am constantly reminded ablout anything posted on Facebook. I have heard countless news reports about how teachers have been suspended or fired based on pictures or posts they have made. We are seen as professionals first and then people realize that we have a life outside of work. This “secret” life is one that can harm the chance of getting or keeping a job. I also learned that college students who are going to be student teaching are not allowed to have any of these social media accounts during the semester they are completing the opportunity to train to be a teacher.
Molly – That’s interesting about student teachers. I was aware of that rule. Seems a little unfair, but makes sense I guess. Thanks for sharing.
When it comes to social media and what I post, I follow the words of two wise men.
The first piece of advice comes from my friend, Tim, a PR professor on our campus, who says, “If you wouldn’t want to see it on the front page of The New York Times, don’t write or post it.” In other words, don’t post those unflattering and unsavory pictures from bars or fraternity parties.
The second nugget comes from our former president judge who says, “With great freedom comes great responsibility.” In other words, we have the freedom to post anything — or almost anything — we want because we are fortunate to have the right to Freedom of Speech. However, is it responsible to post it?
The Student Affairs folks on our campus discuss this with our students each year in the hopes that they won’t post something, which an employer will see, that will adversely affect their chances at a job.
Pat –
Thanks for your comments. I think that both of those pieces are great advice to social media users. Since most social media attracts (for the most part) college and high school aged students I think it’s important to stress this to them. With that said, it’s difficult for this type of message to reach that audience and to actually be absorbed in mass quantities. Any suggestions on how campuses and high schools can reach out to youngsters in fresh, creative ways?
– Courtney
May people post anything they wish online? Yes! But should they? No!
Early in my career my company (IBM) was sued by a competitor when we won a $40Million-dollar contract for the federal government. They claimed we must have unduly influenced the government employees who chose the winners (we didn’t, but many losing bidders try this tactic in federal bid situations).
We were using the precursor to PC email, a mainframe email system called PROFS. Their lawyers subpoenaed every email in our files, along with written notes. I’ll never forget the IBM lawyers advising us to never write anything in a digital communication without including the original context in your answer. They said every single email needs to stand on its own in a court of law, and could you defend an email 5 years from now if it is read to a jury? What if someone tried to alter it? Do you have copies of important email originals?
This made a strong impression on someone beginning her career, and I use these lessons to this day in social media as well as email. If it has the potential to be misconstrued, don’t write it, tweet it, post it, or record it.
– Michele Bartram