“With less than 140 characters, your dream job could slip through your fingers” (Equinox Staff, 7 May 2014). In today’s technological age, social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat have become an integral part of modern society. Digital communication gives people the ability to connect with friends and relatives worldwide, promotes real-time information sharing, and allows people to connect with others who share similar interests; however, with the large amount of information being shared, the risk of hurting one’s reputation, image, and/or future should be taken into account. College students today are confronted with the risk of ruining their future even more as they face new opportunities that could result in serious
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Although privacy settings do help to secure personal information, people’s privacy can’t be fully protected. Even with privacy settings in place, advertisers, third-party software developers, identity thieves, and online criminals are able to access one’s online identity (Fact Sheet 35: Social Networking Privacy: How to Be Safe, Secure and Social, 2010). Personal information can be stolen and thus being careful on what is posted is essential. On social media, such as Facebook, photos, age, gender, biographical information, posts, contacts, interests and locations are being shared to other users, …show more content…
By monitoring the types of information being posted, people are able to control their reputation, both personal and professional. As a college student, one’s credibility is highly important. From internship, volunteering, jobs, and graduate school applications, how students present themselves on the internet can have a major impact towards their future; however, with the new independence that students gain from college, they sometimes forget about their online presence, and in the moment post inappropriate photos, videos, and tweets that could hurt their reputation. Even if the student isn’t the one who’s directly responsible for an inappropriate post, the student would still be responsible as long as the student is tagged or affiliated. Recruiters, admission officers, and employers use social media as a way “to get a glimpse of who [an applicant is] outside the confines of a résumé, cover letter, or interview” (Smith, 6 Apr. 2013) and thus what people post can either benefit or damage one’s chances of moving further towards their future aspirations. Imagine a student that has worked hard all 4 years as an undergraduate, maintaining a 4.00 GPA while going above and beyond on medical school requirements, but is denied admittance due to a single post that the student’s friend posted of him/her. For college students, “social networks may inadvertently reveal
Although privacy settings do help to secure personal information, people’s privacy can’t be fully protected. Even with privacy settings in place, advertisers, third-party software developers, identity thieves, and online criminals are able to access one’s online identity (Fact Sheet 35: Social Networking Privacy: How to Be Safe, Secure and Social, 2010). Personal information can be stolen and thus being careful on what is posted is essential. On social media, such as Facebook, photos, age, gender, biographical information, posts, contacts, interests and locations are being shared to other users, …show more content…
By monitoring the types of information being posted, people are able to control their reputation, both personal and professional. As a college student, one’s credibility is highly important. From internship, volunteering, jobs, and graduate school applications, how students present themselves on the internet can have a major impact towards their future; however, with the new independence that students gain from college, they sometimes forget about their online presence, and in the moment post inappropriate photos, videos, and tweets that could hurt their reputation. Even if the student isn’t the one who’s directly responsible for an inappropriate post, the student would still be responsible as long as the student is tagged or affiliated. Recruiters, admission officers, and employers use social media as a way “to get a glimpse of who [an applicant is] outside the confines of a résumé, cover letter, or interview” (Smith, 6 Apr. 2013) and thus what people post can either benefit or damage one’s chances of moving further towards their future aspirations. Imagine a student that has worked hard all 4 years as an undergraduate, maintaining a 4.00 GPA while going above and beyond on medical school requirements, but is denied admittance due to a single post that the student’s friend posted of him/her. For college students, “social networks may inadvertently reveal