Social media has created some really fun and unique ways to share with your friends, family, and the world what’s going on in your life. It gives you an outlet to share what matters to you, a place to vent when you’re frustrated, and even for some, provides a way to monetize your life.
We get it. We’re not a bunch of boomers hating on the existence of social media. However…
The decisions you make now about what you choose to share online can and often will have an effect on your life now and your personal and professional life in the near and far future.
What we’d like to share today (see, we like to share), are a few guidelines to help you make more informed decisions about your digital sharing. Our goal is not to tell you what to do, but just to provide the information you need to be able to make the right decision for you for now and for later.
Here are six things we think you should know.
The internet is forever.
Often, people think that if they delete something offline, it’s gone. The problem? That’s not really how it works. Here’s why:
- If someone else saved the picture or took a screenshot before you deleted it, it’s now out of your hands.
- Many social media companies keep records of what was posted and deleted, so even if it was up for just a few seconds, it’s in the system.
- There are companies out there that scrape social media and the web for historical record of posts. If you post, you never know if one of these company’s bots picked your stuff up.
The only way to ensure that something isn’t on the internet forever is to never put it on the internet.
Does this mean you can’t share anything? Of course not! Here are the practical takeaways to guide you on safer sharing:
- Take a deliberate minute before you post anything and think through how it’s going to be perceived, both by people who know you and those who don’t
- Consider waiting a day or two before you post anything so you have time ‘out of the moment’ to make sure it’s something you want to post.
- If you’re not comfortable with anyone out there (not just the audience you select) seeing something, don’t post it.
- Think about the risk vs. reward. What are you gaining from posting something versus what risks come with that post?
Sharing privately is not actually sharing privately.
This leads right into the second thing you need to consider when it comes to sharing (and oversharing) on social media.
Just because you set the audience of your post to private or a certain group, doesn’t mean it won’t go past that.
Yes, for the most part the social media sites will respect your request. However, you don’t know if the audience you share it with will.
There are a lot of ways this could look:
- Someone in your audience could see your post on their phone and show their phone to someone they are with that is not in the selected audience.
- Even if you use an app like Snapchat where you can protect against screenshotting, nothing protects against someone using another phone or camera to take a picture of their phone.
- Someone might not share your actual post, but they might relay the information to someone else. This can sometimes be even worse because the information may not get relayed accurately.
Sharing privately to a controlled audience is rarely actually private.
Location tags and location pictures can present a safety issue.
Here’s a sobering question. Do you want everyone in the world to know when and where you’re going to be at all times? For most people, the answer is (and should be) a resounding no.
What does this have to do with oversharing on social media in college? Well, when you share your location regularly or share pictures where it’s easy to see where you are, people can start to construct a timeline of where and when you are at certain places.
For example, if you post from the gym every day around 10 am, someone can pretty quickly look at your pictures, figure out which gym it is, and assume that you’re there somewhere around 10 am most mornings. Even if you go out of your way to vary the time you make these posts, someone can still figure out which gym you go to.
Be super careful when you’re posting things that can give away the places you frequent. In a lot of situations, not posting at all is the better play.
If you feel that you must, though, focus on taking pictures that don’t give away your location (including what’s in the background). It probably also goes without saying that tagging your location or using apps that do it automatically is not a great idea if safety is important to you.
Remember, people you aren’t planning on seeing your post may be seeing it.
Your professors, TAs, and administrators are online too.
When something frustrating happens in school, it can be tempting to turn to social media to vent. You know that what you share will most likely be received well, you know you’ll get some support, and it’s probably going to feel good.
The problem? The people involved in the situations you’re venting about are on social media too. Even if they don’t follow you, people who know them and know you might see your post. Additionally, if your post garners a lot of attention, it may get shown to a wider audience, which means it may make its way to the person you’re talking about.
You are 100% entitled to be frustrated and upset about things. Our recommendation, though, is to consider if posting on social media is the most constructive way to vent those frustrations. There’s a risk that you make things worse, rather than better.
Don’t feed the scammers what they need.
The internet is filled with scammers and fraudsters looking to separate good people from their hard-earned money. Here’s a universal truth you need to know:
The more information a scammer has about you, the more dangerous they are.
The more information they have, the higher the chance they can crack your security questions, impersonate you to others, and even manipulate you into doing what they want.
Yes, it all sounds like a story out of a blockbuster thriller, but the reality is this stuff happens to real people and real college students every day. If you don’t want yourself to be an easier target for these types of attacks, keep your personal life personal and off the internet.
Yes, future employers look at social media when hiring.
The things you post online today could have an effect on your ability to get a job now and down the road. More and more employers are taking the time to research applicants social media history to see if they’re the type of employee they want to hire.
The problem? If they see one or two posts that gives the perception that you’re not trustworthy or a wild person, they’re not going to hire you. Even if the post is out of context and can easily be explained, you won’t get the chance to do that.
To address what some people may be thinking, we’ve seen a popular trend of people posting what they want and then changing their name on their account when it’s time to get a job. While this does make things a little more challenging on some employers, savvy ones will still find you. Additionally, there may be historical scraping products out there that let people look into the past on social media where a quick name change will do you no good.
And if you’re looking at getting a government job or one that requires some sort of security clearance, this won’t keep them from finding you.
Instead of worrying about all of this, our best recommendation is be thoughtful about what you post. Compare the risk vs. the reward for every post, and make the right decision. Is a little internet clout or a few extra likes often from people you don’t even know worth risking your future?
Again, it might sound far-fetched and we might sound like out-of-touch boomers, but we assure you, this happens.
Healthy Framework Team
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