Since posting a video last week about how changes in technology and social media are driving shifts in entire industries, I’ve been thinking a lot about how the lines between a person’s personal life and professional life are really becoming blurred, particularly with the use of social media by the overwhelming majority of the population. If questionable pictures get posted on Facebook, you run the risk of them being discovered by potential employers who can make judgments about you based on those pictures. If you put up a controversial tweet, even in jest, it can be used against you in a hiring decision.
Here’s another video I found about social media that is very eye-opening in terms of its impact on our lives:
An interesting quote: “What happens in Vegas stays on Twitter, Orkut, Bebo, Flickr, Digg, MySpace, YouTube.”
I’m not bringing this up as an alarm about social media, but rather, as a caution. It can be easy to become too casual online. As part of good personal branding, you’re supposed to let your personality show, but how much is too much? How guarded should we be? Unfortunately, with Twitter, YouTube, and other forms of social media being so public, a mistake that normally would be kept within the confines of a small group can be disseminated far and wide.
Social media has demonstrated its staying power, and it will continue to evolve and be more fully integrated into our lives. Going forward, we will need to be ever-mindful that what we do after hours doesn’t negatively impact our professional lives.
P.S. – The JibberJobber Giveaway is still going! Write a comment on the JibberJobber post or tweet about it by this Friday to be entered into a drawing for a three-month premium membership to JibberJobber. You could be one of three lucky winners to get this great prize!
Twitter: JulieWalraven
says:
Totally right on again, Melissa! I just saw a status of 9 of my friends joining what I would consider a very controversial group on Facebook. Your FB status is not private. The right IT department can work its way through anything. I would recommend that you think about friending people, places, and groups that you might not want to be associated with if you were investigated by a prospective employer or perhaps your banker. Anything goes, maybe not!
It will be interesting to see how social media continues to develop and the impact it will have on job seekers and companies. What has not even been conceived yet that will be the next “must-have” tool for job hunting in the next five years? What new lessons will we have to learn to be able to use them without doing harm to ourselves professionally? (Just lots of musings about this topic lately!)