As part of the digital age, social media has become a central part of many people’s lives. Through social media, they interact and communicate with others both publicly and privately. However, there are some things that social media users should not publicly showcase because they could suffer from future, professional harm from doing so.
Personal Information
By using social media, you already have some personal information available on the internet, probably including your identity and email addresses. The problem with having this kind of information online is that someone may figure out how to integrate and publish all your data online without your permission or discretion. This malicious act is called doxxing, which is a term that stems from the idea of collecting documents that relate to a person. Information about a person is valuable to some social media websites. In particular, a person’s identity, interests and habits are considered a lucrative commodity. This type of data can be used to promote targeted advertising. Consequently, the information can be sold. Even though you may appear to be anonymous on a website, you can never be too sure that the information you’ve given voluntarily is not being tracked and distributed to potentially harmful sources that will violate your privacy.
Anything About an Accident
When people hear about an accident, it is very likely that they will try to gain insight as to what occurred and how it happened, even if the accident does not concern them at all. If you post any information pertaining to a friend’s injury, you are not only violating your friend’s right to privacy but also possibly impacting your friend’s insurance claim. You should know that the insurance company will look at your social media. Insurance companies tend to seek and examine any relevant information that pertains to accidents, injuries or health issues that involve a claim or settlement. This can also speak about your principles which potential employers are concerned about.
Offensive Content
Posting offensive content is a huge faux pas for anyone in the job market. You should carefully monitor your posting or display of any kind of sensitive content that someone could consider offensive, particularly the endorsement of hate speech or advocacy of violence. Some people may find it entertaining, but others could quite rightly find it disturbing and report the incident to the social media administrators. This can lead to your account being banned and you not being able to express yourself freely on that platform. Employers do not want people that support questionable content representing their company .
In a digital age, employers are looking at your social media accounts. If you can’t put your accounts on private, you need to make sure you filter your posts. Be mindful of what you post online because some information may seriously impact your life later on.
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