Is Your Social Networking Page Making You a Loser?
By Stephanie Rose, age 18, Tennessee
With over 6 million users, Myspace, Facebook, and other social networks have been very popular the past couple of years. The sites not only let you network with people within your community, job, or school, but also give musicians, politicians, and celebrities a way to reach us. While all of these websites are great for networking, they come with a great deal of worry for your future.Imagine that you are sitting down and filling out a job or a college application. You were involved in extracurricular activities, you had a good GPA, and you were a great student. Now picture that party you went to last week, and that all of the pictures taken of you having a good time were posted on one of these social networks. Do you still have a chance of getting that dream job or getting into that big shot school?
Now don't get me wrong - Myspace is a great tool to reach out and express yourself. But you have to be careful what you put on your profile.
I go to a private college, and they checked some random Myspace pages in class one day as an example of how employers of smaller companies are now looking at these sites to dig up any skeletons you might be hiding in the cyberworld.
Here are some tips to help you better your chances:
Default Picture
Don't have a picture with any inappropriate gestures or clothing. It can easily turn off your future employer.Top Friends
If one of your top friends has any inappropriate things it will show up on YOUR profile. It will make you look bad.Display Name
Your display name is one of the first things people notice when they skim you profile. Keep it clean.Privacy
Keep your page private. By keeping your page private the employer won't be able to go on your profile.Not all of the employers out there are looking at these websites, but there are quite a few who do. Therefore that one picture of you having a good time can hurt your job or college application. So be careful and be aware that this is a huge issue that can hurt your future.
