When you think about it, what does social media really do for us today? We meet people through friends and then find them on Facebook and become friends with them, we post pictures... some more vulgar than others, and post with friends. Depending on your privacy settings, many people can see your profile and get to know you without you ever knowing. Even though social media can be seen as a positive, it can also be seen as a negative and have the potential to ruin relationships or your future career.
I had a professor my sophomore year of college who went through our Facebook profiles and pictures. The people who did not have their profiles on private and had disturbing pictures of their nights out posted were embarrassed in front of the entire lecture class. Some of the pictures I have seen made me ask why anyone would ever put up a picture like that so others can see. My professor put a new picture up on the overhead screen and told us everyday that this is what our employers are seeing. Luckily, I have a lot of privacy settings on my profile but at the same time I do not take nor do I post pictures that have the chance to embarrass me or cause a problem with someone I have a relationship with. I have been thinking about deleting my Facebook. I do not need to connect with people through it because the people that reach out to me on Facebook are the people I am friends with and talk to everyday. I also do not post many things on Facebook unless I really want my friends to see where I went on vacation or put pictures up with my friends so they can have those pictures as well.
My professor taught me to see Facebook differently. I do not think it something worth great value, even though it does have some positive things about the site. My professor's message was that anyone can see these pictures as well as our profiles and we should consider putting up some privacy settings or even taking stuff down. Even though Facebook allows us to connect and check out what someone else is doing and how their night was, the site has the ability to generate unwanted attention. So many people have made Facebook a big part of their lives. People let others know exactly where they are and what they are doing. Maybe it is time to take a step back from Facebook and see if it really has as much to offer as you think.
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I understand where your are coming from. In some cases, people use social media in a completely inappropriate fashion. Facebook was not created with the intention that college-aged students were going to upload pictures and leave inappropriate comments- it was simply a social network for college students to connect with one another.
ReplyDeleteObviously, it has become much bigger than that. I truly think there are a lot of positive aspects to Facebook. I think it is a wonderful resource to use to keep in touch with friend and family in far-away cities. It can be a great resource to reach out to employers as well as to research recruiters and employers, along with other social networking sites.
Overall, I think the most important concept to remember is to create a positive personal brand online, and that absolutely includes keeping your profiles "clean" and representing yourself in a positive manner.
Great post. I had a class that did the same thing (maybe it was the same class) and one of the pictures I posted of a friend ended up on the screen once. Thankfully it was not of me, but I felt terrible that the picture I posted ended up on the screen. It made me rethink everything about Facebook. I then strengthened my security and made sure whatever pictures I post, of me or of my friends, were appropriate. It is great that we take a class that discusses the positives of social media, but I like that you looked at the negative.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing that was Steve Manuel's class! I would never want anyone to find anything embarrassing on Facebook of me, either. I have been thinking about deleting my profile as well, but unfortunately can't because I run a social media page for an organization that is tied to my profile. Though I think that some aspects of social media can hinder a candidate for a job offer, it's kind of a catch 22 because employers want their employees to know how to use social media, but won't hire us based on our profiles.
ReplyDeleteIf it was Steve Manuels class like the person above me said, I had it too! It made me think in a similar way of whether having a facebook was really worth the problems it could potentially cause. In my opinion I think it really depends on your particular situation in life as some people are not able to reach out to everyone they want to talk to every day in other mediums. I know as a transfer student to penn state that one of the main uses of my facebook this year anyways has been to keep in touch with my friends at my previous school, see their pictures, see what they're up too, etc. and for them to do the same.
ReplyDeleteI have every privacy setting in the world for my pictures and profile in an attempt to block those who I'd rather not have seeing my profile from seeing it, however I am well aware that companies have ways around it. So yes while I do want my facebook to my a place for some people to be able to see what is going on in my life and for me to see what is going on in my friends lives who I do not have the time to actually reach out to daily, I know it is a risk, but one that I am willing to take. I try and keep my profile as clean as possible but on the same hand, I am 21 and therefore legal to drink. If an employer was not willing to hire me because of a picture of me holding a beer, I am unsure if I would really want to work at such a straight laced company anyways.... they were in college once too.