Two social media accounts can save you from trouble

Brea Jones/ Staff Writer

Today, social media plays a huge role in most people’s everyday life.

We post any and everything on our pages for many reasons. For some reason, people always ignore the little voice in their head telling them not to post things that will damage their image, if that voice exists at all.

Employers are very much aware that some people post every little thing on their social media without giving it a second thought. Because of this companies almost always check their future employees’ social media before or after interviews and for some companies regular social media checks are normal.

What you do outside of your office can majorly affect your status inside the office. Companies care about their image and most will do anything to protect it – including firing those who jeopardize it.

A middle school teacher had to learn that the hard way. Kandice Mason, a North Carolina school teacher, was suspended when a video of her dancing on a pole was leaked. In her personal time, Mason is a pole dance instructor and posts her video to her private Facebook page, according to People.com.

Despite her page being private; Mason’s video got out and it cost her her job because to them; that event damaged their image. Pole dancing has a negative connotation attached to it, and Mason’s image was forever tainted.

If for some reason you just can’t seem to resist posting every part of your life on social media; make separate accounts. One account can be your more personal account while the other account is your professional account. Your personal account should have a limited amount of friends or followers. You should only friend people you know and trust. So what happened to Mason doesn’t happen to you.

Always be conscious of what you post on social media. We have heard it a thousand times and yet it doesn’t seem to stick, what you post on the internet is eternal. Always do a social media sweep and delete things that might be damaging to your social image. There are ways to get around private profiles if one were to try hard enough.

We know that jobs are watching our social media, some companies even have policies regarding personal social media use that employees must follow. It is crucial for people who want to have a serious job or career to scrub their social media. As simple as the concept may seem some people just don’t understand how serious this is.

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The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

Photo by Rami-Al-zayat on Unsplash