For most of us, social media represents an easy way to be entertained and connect with our friends and family. Facebook boasts a huge, active user base of over 1 billion people. Twitter has over 600 million unique tweeters. Tumblr has 300 million unique visitors every year. That accounts for a lot of people and a lot of social media real estate. What many people may not know is how social media has come to be a major deciding factor in their future employment. One study released recently has suggested that 10% of all job applicants between the ages of 16 and 34 are rejected simply because of something on their social media accounts.
Why Is This Happening?
Social media is a difficult thing to keep under control for many businesses. It is not uncommon for employees to make ill-advised comments on their social media accounts that reflect poorly on the business at which they're employed. One recent example of this is Justine Sacco, who made a controversial tweet about AIDS in Africa while en route to the continent via plane. When she deplaned, she found out that her tweet had not only landed her in hot water, she had been fired from her job at IAC (InterActiveCorp).
To avoid having to fire people after the fact, many businesses have taken to scouring through the social media profiles of prospective employees. If there's something on there that could be deemed inappropriate, then the applicant's resume will likely end up in the slush pile. While this might seem like an invasion of privacy to some degree, it keeps the heat off of the backs of the company's PR department. Of course, it can also be difficult to excise all objectionable content from your social media profiles. Most hiring executives consider any of the following to be inappropriate on social media profiles:
- Posts or photos that are provocative or controversial
- Racist, sexist, or religion-based comments deemed discriminatory
- Speaking ill of a previous employer
- Lack of communication skills
- Posts involving alcohol or drug use
It is very easy for a wild night with your friends to turn into the primary reason you're not getting a job. Reputations can be damaged because of social media.
Reputation Management
If you're looking for employment, then it's a good idea to get any potentially objectionable content off of your social media profiles. Go through it with a fine-toothed comb. Start "liking" and retweeting items that are similar to the job you're looking for.
Of course, reputation management isn't always that easy. If you're notable enough to have earned a Wikipedia page, excising something from your record isn't going to be easy. Indeed, many people have paid third-party writers to construct or reconstruct their Wikipedia pages from scratch. Trying to find a job after something harmful makes it onto your Wikipedia page is difficult. Just ask Justine Sacco, who may never be able to live down that infamous tweet. In any event, it's always a good idea to manage your social media profiles.