Social Media Influence

As a person who is familiar with technology, I have several social media accounts and use them daily. I have accounts with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Tiktok. I use all, but LinkedIn for personal use. If my potential employers saw my accounts, they would just find pictures of my family and pets. I do not have anything embarrassing on my accounts as I know that anything put on the internet is there to stay and can be found by potential employers. Social media does not influence me, per se, but allows me to connect and share moments of mine and my daughter’s lives with my family and friends who live far away.

Social media does influence the way that people communicate because it allows them to share their lives with family and friends on an instantaneous basis. Being able to connect with multiple people instantaneously in one place at one time, it lets people engage with those they do not get to see normally. It also allows people a glimpse into the life of the person that is sharing that content. “Social media has become really fundamental to the way that billions of people get information about the world and connect with each other, which raises the stakes enormously” (Global Focus North America, 2019). As this quote from Kevin Werbach states, by connecting to the billions of people in the world, that you risk someone running across something that they shouldn’t due to you posting it on social media, which includes potential employers.

Personal branding is a great way to allow potential employers to view a potential hire. By personally branding yourself, by creating content that reflects personal values and professional skills (@DMI, 2019). By creating content that reflects who you are and what skills you have, it allows potential employers to see who you are and what you can do. Keeping your social media accounts up to date, letting people know what your expertise is, connecting all of your social media accounts, sharing content on a regular basis, creating engaging content, integrating your contacts, keeping a positive atmosphere about your social media, joining groups, keeping a brand image and tone consistent, and to study influencers (@DMI, 2019), it makes it so that your social media reflects you and what you know.

Social media can both help and hinder careers. If your current or potential employer finds something that you’ve posted online that does not agree with their company values and standards, they may use it as an excuse to let you go, and this can greatly hinder your career. If you keep your social media clean and make sure you are aware of what you are posting, it can help you gain potential employment.

Overall, social media has its ups and its down. If you post the wrong thing, then you can lose your job. It helps potential employment to keep your social media clean. Once something is posted on the internet then it is there for good, so it helps to be aware of what you post.

References

Global Focus North America. (2019, July 26). The Impact of Social Media: Is it Irreplaceable? Retrieved May 24, 2020, from https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/impact-of-social-media/

@DMI, S. (2019, November 15). 10 Steps to Building Your Personal Brand on Social Media. Retrieved May 24, 2020, from https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/en-ca/blog/10-steps-to-building-your-personal-brand-on-social-media