In today’s society it is not unusual to have a facebook. In fact, it is kind of odd NOT to have one. With our society to heavily dependent on the social networking, who are we to think this could NOT affect our lives so greatly? Internet is a powerful source of information, and of trouble. For example, when a job goes to hire you, and they decided to do a facebook search, do you think they will hire you if they see profanity on your page, both in what you say and what you post in pictures? No. Nowadays, teens post pictures of them every weekend doing activities that should be kept private. If you feel that it is so important to do these things every weekend, there is no need to put it on facebook, people already know what is going on. Some teens do not see the harm in it, and some do it to ‘brag’ and let others know what they are doing. The advice I would give regarding this subject is this: if you do not care that other teens are seeing it, then it is probably best just to keep doing it. Why not? If there is no respect to not let your peers see that, then why not let your future boss (or lack thereof) see it too, because they will. Once it is online it cannot be erased.
My father’s life is computers. He knows just about anything there is to know about anything on the Internet. The ONE thing he has ALWAYS warned me about (since I was in the 5th grade and got my first screen name) is to be VERY careful of not only what you POST but what you SAY. He works for a big company that DOES do facebooks checks. He has warned me a thousand times not to post pictures of ANYTHING that hints something bad. He knows people who it is their JOBS to do google searched of you and facebook checks before they hire you. He has even told me tales of people who did not get hired because of something they have searched. His other strong advice is not to talk about ANYTHING work related. It does not matter if you post “I love my job”, it will go back to haunt you. Which brings me to my next point.
With social networking such as facbeook getting more complex, it is also easier to search for people, and even stalk them. For example, with the new facebook layout it is so easier to post where you are from, where you live now, where you go to SCHOOL (which again schools will not want to see bad things if you have THEIR SCHOOL NAME representing them) and where you WORK (same deal). It amazes me how someone can have their JOB posted and their position, yet post pictures or say things that if their job had seen, would not have them hired. A business, especially a big time name business, will not stand for their name being in vain, and will drop you faster than you can type ‘opps’.
Aside from the jobs and schools that won’t hire you, let’s talk about your friends. How many fights have you seen on facebook? And yes, some are widely entertaining, but they start even more trouble. I have seen friendships END over FACEBOOK. That to me is ridiculous taken to the highest degree. And now it is not only facebook, it is twitter, and tumblr, and other various blogs. It is alright to keep them, but do not post something about your personal life that you would not want certain people to see, because chances are they will see, or hear about it.
I could ramble about this subject all day but for my close I would like to just warn people of what they are doing. What we post online, to someone who might not know us, defines us for them. What we see as 'online joking' and inside jokes with friends, to others it paints a picture of who we are. It will come back to bite you if you don’t be careful. It doesn’t feel like it now because we are young and young people feel powerful, but you wont be so powerful when you cant land a job you’ve always wanted because you wanted to show the world how cool you are.
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