Social Media: Judge, Jury, & Executioner(?)
Social media seems to already play a role in today’s job search. I cannot stress enough how many times, professors, advisors, etc. would say something like “watch what you post on the internet!” … as if we didn’t already know that — okay I am speaking for myself at this point, because I know there are those out there that weren’t ~exposed~ to social media as early or constantly as others, so I guess for them this is good advice…
However, that doesn’t change the fact that you do leave a digital footprint, which by the way, is so annoying. Someone can just google you and things ‘related’ to you will come up (like social media sites you use) — which I hate. So I tried to max out on all my privacy settings as much as I can. Pretty sure if you search for me on Google, on the first page you’ll see my LinkedIn (created because we “had to” for “school” and “our future”). There is also my Facebook, but if you aren’t already my “friend” there should be almost no information to show. My Google+ is there, but I don’t use it… an old video I helped with for a Skills Canada Competition back when I was in high school and… the FCAD Dean’s List 2015–2016 pdf is there with my name listed (yay?), and you won’t find my twitter (either of them). After the first page on Google Search then… I don’t know what to tell you, the internet is a vast, unexplored space so I have no idea what those sites are.
So, do I do all this because I have something to hide? Am I afraid that what I post online will somehow affect future opportunities? No and no. I don’t… really have anything to hide? But I also don’t want to be easily found? I guess it’s more of a matter of privacy (whatever that means on the world wide web, am I right? )… than an issue that I am scared of the ‘big bad employer’ looking for reasons to hire (or not hire) me based on my social media usage.
Obviously for some careers and fields it would make sense to have such a strong-online-social-media-presence for hiring purposes… but I really hate how it’s ‘leaking’ over into other fields. Like, when did it become this weird necessity? If I don’t post, do I still exist? Am I a suspicious person if I am not active online?
On the flip side, I still do think employers that take action for firing employees for things they have posted online (such as hateful comments) are in the right. I mean, employers should have a say on what kind of people they have working for them right? And I mean, if you, in this day and age, post hateful things online… under your own name, I mean… you can’t be that smart right… and I don’t think employers want… not smart… people… working for them… right? Then again, it’s also like, what if it was just a difference of opinion? What if it’s not hateful? What if it’s just two different perspectives that tend to clash? But then, if you’re an employer receiving heaps of pressure from the very place you found these comments, aka social media, pressuring you to take action… then … good luck.
And you know what, it’s not only what you post online. It could even be something you do IRL (in real life), that could end up on URL (aka uniform resource locator aka the address of a World Wide Web page).
Just ask this guy: Mr. Ken Pagan
And if you don’t recognize him, here is a refresher:
(Notice the lack of tweets starting from that fateful day, only to pick up again months later?)
So what role will social media play in ‘job search’? Probably the exact same role it’s playing right now — judge, jury, executioner. If you care, it’s there. And if you don’t, then don’t Google Search someone’s name. You can use it as a place to connect and network if you want. Or you can be super savvy and use it as a tool to help you get hired. Or you can be an idiot and reap the consequences.
But in the end, what’s worse: not being present? Or being too present? Either way, it seems like there’s no escape.
