Putting the "Social" Back Into Social Media (Part 1)

We’ve all been there. Whether it’s yet another meme with bad grammar (learn “your” vs. “you’re,” people), misinformation sharing (check your sources) or just someone who is forcefully preaching an opinion we just can’t get behind, social media can drive to post things we regret. Some platforms are worse than others (hence the flight from some folks from Facebook and Twitter to the safety of Instagram), but the potential for mischief is always there.

At times, it seems like our online interactions have reverted to become “anti-social” media.  I’m here today to advocate a better approach….for health, sanity, and professional well-being. 

Let’s put the size of this problem into scope.  Just how BIG is social media in the first place?

According to the Pew Research Institute, 70% of all adults in the U.S. use some kind of social media.  The number gets bigger when you consider just 30-49 year old group (82%) and really pervasive with the 18-29 crowd (90%) (https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/).

The top social networks have a TON of users!  By the numbers:

1. Facebook: 2.45 billion users

2. Instagram: 1 billion users

3. Twitter: 330 million users

4. LinkedIn: 310 million users

5. Reddit: 430 million users

(https://www.searchenginejournal.com/social-media/biggest-social-media-sites/#close)

That’s a lot of people spending time posting pictures of their dinners, cat videos, and, oh yes, starting fights about everything from politics to conspiracy theories.  We all know that the bad stuff can get under our skin, but there are lots of reasons to start actively managing our online presence.

The big one?  That potential employer is probably looking at your Facebook page (and everything else you have online).   According to Business News Daily, companies seeking applicants are most likely to hit up your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages (https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2377-social-media-hiring.html).  Let’s take on some of the misconceptions about how we are managing our online profiles:

“My profile is private; I can post whatever I want.”

Not so fast; there are a TON of ways to access private social media accounts.  Many are based in offshore ad networks that find ways around privacy settings.  Yes, it’s pretty easy for someone without hacking skills to find your account.

“It’s free speech; an employer can’t use my personal opinions against me.”

There’s been a LOT of debate on whether or not social media postings do, in fact, constitute free speech.  In several cases, employees who were fired for discussing inadequate pay and unsafe working conditions were fired but then forced to be reinstated as they were discussing “matters of public interest.”  That being said, an employer who doesn’t like what they find on your page can usually come up with another way not to hire you.  Legally?  It’s a grey area.  Ethically?  Try proving the potential employer wrong.

“But I deleted it.”

Nothing ever really disappears on the net.  Don’t believe me?  Check out the Wayback Machine, a site that’s been archiving snapshots of the net since the 90’s (I found some really old pics of myself….I don’t miss the haircut, but I do miss the waistline).  

Even long extinct websites live on in perpetuity in this catalog of cyberspace: https://archive.org/web/

So, what’s a person to do?  Like you, I’ve said some things online that I wish I could take back.  In the meantime, consider these steps.

1. Clean up your profiles: Yes, there might be archives out there, but do what you can to limit the pictures and posts that might present you in a non-professional light.

2. Search for orphan pages: You may have an old social media page from “a long time ago on an internet far, far away” from a time when you were, let’s say, more free in your postings.  Hunt these dinosaurs down and kill them.

3. Manage your privacy settings: You can control who becomes your friend or follower.  Allowing for automatic approval is asking for bad content to end up on your page.  At the same time, consider managing who is able to “tag” you in posts or photos.

4. Set up a Google alert.  Google will, upon your request, alert you any time new content with your name emerges on any page they index.  It’s free and helpful.

5. Bury the bad with the good.  Generally speaking, the more internet users view content, the more likely it is to show up on a search.  Make it a goal to create content regularly that showcases your talent and skills.  You might not be able to delete every picture of you doing 3 a.m. beer pong in college, but you CAN get more good info out there about yourself.

In the next posting, we’ll hit up some of the more psychological aspects of making social networks more social (i.e. the best ways to avoid getting into a flame war and some paths out if you do).  Stay tuned!