You can go look at my Twitter or Instagram feeds right now. I wouldn’t be ashamed of what I share. On my Instagram, you’ll see some highlights of fun things I do. On Twitter, you’ll see I like to share memes, some light comments on politics, and I roast my close friends in good humor.
But I’ve seen the social profiles of some other students, and y’all need to clean those up for your future career’s sake.
A 2017 poll by CareerBuilder found that 54 percent of employers have decided not to hire a potential employee because of their profiles on social media and 70 percent screen applicants this way.
Why should we be concerned about this in college? Have you considered your life after college? Would you like a job? Graduate school? Anywhere you apply has the potential to look at your feeds.
But you’re a long way from graduation? The department you study in may even look at your feeds. They will probably be more forgiving than your future employer, but they do not want students in their program that embarrass them. Also, you might as well keep your feeds clean now. That way, you won’t have to dig as much to clean them up when you’re on the job hunt.
There are also levels to what’s appropriate and what’s not on social media. People are pretty accustomed to memes now. Unless they’re truly offensive or crude, you’re probably okay. You also probably shouldn’t post photos of yourself with a joint or doing a keg stand, but your one beer at the tailgate might slide for most employers.
I think the most important part is to keep your profiles classy. Would you be okay with your grandmother seeing it? Would you be embarrassed? If so, then maybe un-tag yourself from bachelor party photos with half-nude women, or the Halloween photos of you dancing on the furniture.
Honestly, just keep it classy, or be more discrete about your wild weekends. You can also keep your profiles on private if you think you need to, but be warned that a lot of things, like your current and past profile pictures on Facebook, are public even if you have a private account.
Be smart out there. I don’t want you to lose your first job before you even get it because Chad shared a photo of you from last weekend.
