The Power Of Social Media In The World Of Professional Opportunities 

So, exactly how much do I need to delete from my IG profile before applying for my dream job?

Did that question ever cross your mind before? Well, if you said no then maybe you should start thinking about it! On Device Research did a study surveying people from the U.S., China, India, and the UK where they found that 1 in every 10 adults and young adults were turned down for employment due to their actions on social media. 

Also, there are many articles that talk about how posting on social media can have an impact on one’s job. Research has shown that about 18% of employers have fired people because of something that was posted online, and about 70% of them screen candidates’s profiles before hiring (Donald, 2022). That means that even if we do have our dream jobs, we should still ask ourselves if we’re comfortable with our bosses seeing our posts. You can also take a look at this very entertaining article about 9 People Who Were Fired for Posting on Social Media. 

How is this relevant to you, me, and probably everyone else on this planet!?

Every single one of us has some form of social media nowadays, even if we don’t like to admit that we’re active on it. I am one of those people that always says “I am not really on social media”; But how can that be possible if I’m constantly watching YouTube, browsing through Instagram, texting my friends on Snapchat, and looking for communities to connect with on Reddit!? As of January 2023, 59% of the global population is in use of social media, that is about 4.6 billion people (Dixon, 2023). 

As I continue to attend my Social Media for Corporate Communication (CC 406) course at Penn State University I continue to realize that a big part of our reputation is directly linked to our social media behaviors. The scary reality for me is that it seems like we truly cannot be free of the public eye anymore. So whether we are trying to get a new job, maintain one that we already have, or start a business, we need to be mindful of what it is that we’re putting out there on social media. 

I have social media; Now what should I do!?

 Last week after leaving my CC 406 lecture I started to think of what content I currently have on my social media accounts, what I need to clean up / delete, what are hiring managers looking for when scanning a social media profile, and most importantly where do I get started?

In this section of the blog I want to take some time to think about and look for at least some answers on how to start a social media cleanup; I came up with the following list:

How To Start Your Personal Social Media Cleanup?

• Step 1: Locate all of your social media accounts and delete accounts that are no longer in use.

Making sure that you know what social media accounts you have and deleting the ones you don’t use anymore is really important because that can protect your information and prevent the monetization of your data. 

• Step 2: Be clear about what accounts you want to keep public and what accounts should stay private.

• Step 3: Separate your professional accounts/content (ex. LinkedIn) from your personal accounts/content (ex. Instagram).

I believe that both steps 2 and 3 are a good way for us to distinguish between which posts should go on the different accounts that we have.

• Step 4: Delete all posts/comments that are inappropriate and unfollow any accounts with inappropriate content. 

This is the most important step in the list, that is because like I have mentioned earlier in the post, our social media profiles are a big part of what represents us, and we have to make sure that we’re portraying our best selves. 

• Step 5: Use a profile picture that can appropriately represent you. 

This last step speaks for itself. Our social media accounts need to have a profile picture that can well represent us. A good picture can authenticate your account and it is also there so that people can recognize you.

At the end of the day we live in a world where social media can make or break our professional opportunities; Therefore, it is crucial for us to take control of our social media and the way our personal brand is portrayed.