Dangers Of Social Networking

Have you ever applied for a job or to a college and wondered why you weren’t hired or admitted? Have you recently spent any time reviewing your digital footprint? If your answer to the last question was no, then you may have just found the answer to the first question. In today’s society, there is a multitude of social networking websites available to almost anyone with internet access. These sites allow users to provide a seemingly harmless view into their everyday lives, sharing with others what they did for their birthday, who they visited for Christmas or possibly even what they ate for lunch. Little do they know that every post, picture, tweet or tag can affect their future endeavors. Not only can the information accessed on these sites …show more content…
Those who have been informed of these hazards often ignore the warnings or simply don’t believe them. The truth is that schools and employers are becoming increasingly prone to using social networking as a means to research candidates. According to the HiringSite blog, which is powered by CareerBuilder, “…not only do the majority of employers go on social media to check up on candidates, but the number of those who do has increased 500 percent over the last decade.” This startling increase should be taken seriously and those who choose to use social networking sites should use extreme caution and tact when …show more content…
According to Hemphill, the truth lies in the unedited, raw, and personal posts and photos found on social networking sites. Conventional methods of applying for jobs and colleges, such as letters of recommendation, essays and interviews can be, in the words of Hemphill, “contrived, rehearsed, or manipulated.” He later explains that there is a “treasure-trove” of information on social media that can be used to expose the true qualities and personalities that can be hidden or confined in the once popular methods of the