My Online Presence

Your online presence is something that has recently become an important part of most American's lives. This, of course, entails what you post, how you post, with whom you post, and why that post is there. These remarks are exactly what businesses will look at and ask themselves when they are considering you for an open job position. I'm 19 turning 20, so this issue is one that I will be facing in the coming months to years of my life. I did not go to the drastic measure of deleting all my social media profiles like this 14 year old girl did, but I did do some thinking about what my profiles and posts say about me.

Probably the most popular and frequently used social media platform amongst teens to early adults is Instagram. My account is private and I believe that it is pretty clean. All of the posts that I have do not show any illegal activity or deviant behavior that has the potential to not get me a job, unlike some other people that I know. All that is their are pictures with my friends, vacation spots, Patriots games that I have attended, and my dog. The same can be said about the pictures that I am tagged in. Most of them are just from friends and family where I am either visible or not visible in the picture, but I was there so I was tagged. The comments under my pictures are clean as well. It is quite easy to maintain this because if there is a comment that I don't like or is not appropriate, then I just delete it so that it is no longer there. So, my Instagram account is pretty clean and the same can be said for my Twitter. This account is private too so not everyone can see what I tweet or like. However, it would not be a bad thing if everyone did. I barely send out my own tweets. Instead, I use the site to keep up with world and sports related news from verified accounts that will get the information out as soon as it is made available. Then, I will retweet it to my timeline. Twitter can become a nasty place with some people who harass certain accounts which gives them no edge what so ever, but that is the reality. Harsh language and motions in videos are often used and spread around the entire website like a wildfire. Instead of retweeting this or liking these tweets even if I may find some amusing, I never do because I do not want certain individuals accounts linked to me that could be detrimental to my future.

My LinkedIn profile is new this year and, to be honest, I am not a big fan of it. Now, my account is clean because I only have my previous jobs, resume, and a couple of assignments on there for future employers to see, but this is something that I barely use. There are so many things that you can tell about a person when you are standing in front of them that you cannot behind a screen. So, you may have someone who seems like a perfect fit for your company on paper, but once you get them to sit down in an interview, you are left wondering why you brought this person in. So my account is fine; it is just rarely ever used.

The account that I worry about the most is Facebook, but it is not because of my posts or what I may be tagged in. I have recently gone through my account and deleted any posts that I did not like and they were all deleted because they were cringey. It was nothing bad, just some awkward posts from a 13 year old boy who is now just a distant memory. I am worried about what Facebook is doing with my information. I like to go on my account and enjoy what others have posted and shared, but the company takes my information and pretty much puts it up for whoever wants to see it or whoever wants to take it. Although all of the privacy settings are turned up to the highest that they can be, I still do not feel as though my account or information is as private is it could and should be.