How Twitter and Facebook Can Hurt Your Career
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The web has expanded our ability to exercise our freedom of expression. The growth of Facebook and Twitter has intruded into various aspects of our lives. We all know the power of social networking with these two mediums and that has become a double edged sword.
Some users talk about and show the many events that occur in their lives. Some use it as a marketing tool and some use it to communicate with others. For example, you can even use twitter to find a job.
Everyone and almost anyone can see what is up on your accounts. What you say, what pictures are shown, and what applications you use all serve to create a real profile of what your account profile reveals. This is much like what credit card companies do based on your spending habits.
Perform a Google search on your own name and see what comes up. If you are popular enough (which need not be much), your Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn account will probably show up as some of the top results. Any employer can do the same! And depending on how strict your boss is, your career or potential job would be in jeopardy if they find something unsatisfactory.
What Can Hurt Your Image
- The use of various four-letter words. Profanity can be a part of someone’s daily vocabulary. There will be times when your temper takes over and you say things. It is understandable. Just don’t let your employer see it.
- The behind-the-back talk that’s posted in front of the whole world. Any type of gossip and bad-mouthing online for anyone to see shows that you lack integrity and trust. Why would a company want to keep someone who can’t keep confidential and classified information to themselves?
- Any talk of work or of anyone at work (especially your boss). Whether you are writing of a positive or negative experience at work, certain things may be seen as private from your company’s standpoint. The most common tweets and updates from work are: “bored at work”, “sigh, so much work” and “nothing to do at work”. It may show that you or the staff is unproductive, that you are discontent with your job, and that the company is not doing so well. This can all be considered vital (and top secret) information on a business’s wellbeing.
- The photos of your nights out. You were just tagged in a photo with you barfing over the railing on the balcony. It was probably a blast and the picture would be a great memoir but it is pretty obvious why you don’t need to be seen in this inebriated condition.
- The timestamps that record your actions. Let’s say you left work 2 hours early because your boss wasn’t in today. Your update says that you were half way across town when you had an hour of left work. You just handed your boss the evidence to fire you. It doesn’t even matter what you tweet or what your Facebook status is because simplying updating your accounts during work hours may already be enough for you to join the unemployment population.
How You Can Save Your Career
Firstly, note that Facebook statuses can be erased for good but your tweets can still be found even if you have deleted them from your profile page. So it is better off to never have said anything in the first place.
- Don’t use your real name.
- Change the privacy settings of your accounts*.
- Untag yourself from all questionable photos.
- Delete all questionable Facebook status updates and tweets.
- Accept new friends and followers with caution.
*For Facebook privacy settings, you should change the Search Discovery visibility to a narrower search party. For the result content, hide your friend list and the pages you are a fan of. Also, uncheck the public search listing setting so that your name will not show up in the results of search engine searches.
Of course, if you can control yourself and think a little bit before your next tweet or update and take the correct precautions, there is no need to hide your name. Go out there and be known!
Be safe (on Twitter and Facebook)!
Photo credit: carrotcreative
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4 Comments on this post
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Steve said:
This is such a good point. I read a similar article earlier this week, and it’s worth thinking about. You should watch every single twitter and Facebook post, thinking before you post, as if your boss’s boss was looking over your shoulder. Or, better yet, your next employer.
July 25th, 2009 at 10:05 pm -
me said:
Twitter is useful, but it can be addictive.
Curious if anyone has caught this book yet? “The Richest Man in Town” by W Randall Jones. I’ve read half of it so far and let me tell you it is well worth it. Would like to hear what everyone else thought of it?
July 31st, 2009 at 5:47 pm
[...] Simon from Realm of Prosperity presents How Twitter and Facebook Can Hurt Your Career. [...]
[...] Networking is more important than ever. A good relationship is the name of the game. People will help other people if they are able to connect. Companies always give priority to those who were referred by employees already in the companies. The web has contributed to the evolution of networking but always be careful with how you use social networking for your career. [...]