With less than 140 characters, your dream job could slip through your fingers.
A teenage girl’s tweet resulted in her arrest after threats she made against American Airlines.
Although the tweet was allegedly supposed to be a joke made by the girl’s friend, American Airlines took it seriously and wasted no time contacting FBI authorities, according to CNN’s Salma Abdelaziz. Under the Twitter handle @QueenDemetriax_, Sarah tweeted at American Airlines, “hello my name’s Ibrahim and I’m from Afghanistan. I’m part of Al Qaida and on June 1st I’m gonna do something really big bye.”
This incident shows just how much of an impact an online post can have. With graduation approaching and job searches underway for graduating seniors, the spotlight will be put on prospective employees’ social media accounts.
The Equinox feels this incident is a perfect example of why students need to take what they post online more seriously and become more aware of their social media footprint.
Erin D’Aleo / Graphic Design Editor
The smallest mistake could make a difference between being hired or fired. In today’s social media culture, the saying is no longer, “Think before you speak,” but instead, “Think before you post,” and it appears users need to start following this motto.
Everything from vulgarities to inappropriate comments, pictures and re-posts could make an impression on employers. Even if accounts are private, the information posted online is never truly secure nor erased. It is always recorded somewhere.
Anyone can screenshot a post they see and send it on to someone else within seconds.
If this post is deleted later, it is still in existence. Social media sites and the government are monitoring information posted online constantly.
Even if the user is not the one posting the questionable material, if the user is tagged or associated with the online post, it can have great consequences for the tagged user.
Young adults know all of this yet they continue to post words, pictures and videos that they know employers would find undesirable on their social media accounts.
What social media users may not know is that employers have their own tricks to get information that users think is private.
For example, if Googling applicants was not enough, employers use sites that will bring up all information relating to their applicant. These sites are made specifically for the purpose of helping employers learn more about their potential employees.
With a subscription to a people search website, employers can find one’s address, house price, email address, relatives, social media accounts, age, income, gender, marital status, past jobs, photos and videos along with much more.
All of this information is provided at the click of a button with the use of public information such as phone directories, social networks, photo albums, marketing surveys, mailing lists, government censuses, real estate listings and business websites.
The amount of information an employer can discover about an individual is unfathomable.
The self-monitoring of social media sites should not stop once a job is acquired. Many employers check in on their employees and monitor their social media accounts. We live in a culture where everything is online and traceable, which is all the more reason to censor yourself on any and all social media accounts.
The Equinox wants social media users to realize how much of an impact their profiles can have on their future. We want users to be more aware and conscious about what is posted online and what kind of impression that might give to a future employer or anyone else.
With graduation fast approaching, it’s time we start thinking like an employer. Have you ever Googled yourself? If you were an employer looking at those pages of Google results, what judgments, assumptions and impressions would you make? Would you hire yourself?