Nowadays, you can find almost anyone online. Whether it's a potential employee, floormate, or significant other, you can find out a lot just from stalking their social media profiles. But is this always necessarily a good thing? Especially now, when applying for internships and jobs is a relative part of our lives, it's important to watch what we put online.
Check this out right here: Two professional social media stalkers find out as much as they can about a stranger in 20 minutes.
Despite what a potential employer might think about you based off your social media, it's also important to protect your safety when it comes to the web. Here are some easy ways to protect your social media identity:
1. Utilize Privacy Settings
On all your social media accounts, it's important to set your profiles as "private." This can typically be done easily from your settings. This way, no unwanted people are seeing your info without requesting first.
2. Utilize Contact Restrictions
On Facebook and many other social media platforms, you can choose in your settings "Who Can Contact Me?" This will allow you to pick and choose which people on the web can message you.
3. Think Before You Post
You may think a tweet about leaving for your vacation tomorrow is harmless, but it's letting your followers (and who knows who else) know that your house is now empty.
4. Utilize Search Engine Settings
Not many people know about Facebook's awesome search engine indexing feature. If you don't want anyone to be capable of typing your name into Google and having your Facebook posts pop up, you can change this. Look for the "Let Other Search Engines Link To Your Timeline" box in settings, and uncheck it.
5. Watch Your Photos
If a potential employer sees a photo of you with a Solo cup in your hand, it could cost you the job. Think before you post a photo with any alcohol or potentially offensive behavior in it. Watch the backgrounds of your photos, too; even a couple beers on a table behind you can be bad news.
6. Control Your Tags
Facebook's "Timeline and Tagging" section of settings can help you control what photos you are tagged in. You can change your settings so that you have to approve a tag before somebody actually tags you in the photo. This can save you if your friends did not follow tip #5.
7. Watch Where You Check In
Although it may be fun to check in at your local gym or restaurant, this allows people to see exactly where you've been, and probably find out where you live. If you're doing this often, make sure you know who can see your profile.
8. Make Sure You Know Who Can See You
Most accounts have an option that allows you to see your profile as others can. You can choose to see what it looks like to a follower/friend, or a non-follower/friend. This can open your eyes to what everyone can see and might just protect you more than you think.
9. Keep Your Accounts Separate
It may not always be a good idea to link or refer to your other social media platforms on certain accounts. Especially on accounts like LinkedIn, it's important to watch what other profiles you're linking up. Not only does this help for potential employment, but it prevents strangers from being able to find you on multiple platforms on the web.
10. Watch Your Language
Tweets and posts that are filled with colorful language may be funny to you and your friends, but not to a potential employer. Make sure you keep your posts appropriate.
11. Search Yourself
What's the best way to see what potential employers can see? Search your name on Google or any social media platform and see for yourself. Check out what others can see, and change whatever is a red flag to you.
Social media can be a great thing, but not when the world can see things you don't want them to. Next time you log on or post, consider these tips. They might help you in bigger ways than you'd think.
