Media and Your Future

How Can Social Media Negatively Affect Your Future?

By Lily Moul

Ninety five percent of all teens between the ages of twelve to seventeen years old use the World Wide Web (Megahn Meir Foundation). A recent study found that fifty nine percent of kids use social media sites by the age of ten ("More than half of children"). Many of these kids will live to regret items they post online and learn to think before they post. Of the kids using social media by the age of ten, twenty one percent had posted negative comments and twenty six per cent had hacked another person's account and posted without permission (Megahn Meir Foundation). At such a young age, children often lack the maturity necessary to understand how certain comments or pictures may come back to haunt them in their futures.

A real risk exists that what kids post in their teen years will cause serious consequences for their futures and the futures of others. At Upper Arlington High, social media sites have caused harm to students and their reputations. For example, Sarah, a sophomore at Upper Arlington, tweeted inappropriate language about being cut from a sports team and about her coach. At the time she tweeted these comments, she thought it was only an innocent venting of her own frustrations, intended only for her friends. She soon learned differently, however, when both her mom and her coach confronted her about the tweets. She not only had to apologize, but also lost her car privileges for six months. Only after all this did Sarah appreciate the risks of posting online. Sarah said,” Once my parents saw what I had tweeted, I realized it was something that I used poor judgement on. This taught me -- whether pictures or tweets -- anything online can be seen” (Sarah).

Another student at Upper Arlington High School has had problems controlling what others said about him on Twitter. Last year, an anonymous student created a fake account named “UA Confessions,” where anyone could anonymously post comments about both teachers and students. One anonymous poster claimed that another male student at the school had taken inappropriate pictures of a girl, when he never actually had . Because the fake account had included this rumor, the fellow students and the school administration learned about the rumor. The boy who was accused of taking the pictures was asked about the tweet by many of his peers, putting him in a very awkward situation. They constantly nagged him to see the pictures and would not believe him when he said he did not have any. Others loudly complained to him that he should not have taken the pictures at all. Even the school investigated, with administrators asking him if the rumor were true and advising him it was a very serious matter. Although in the end he had done nothing wrong and was not punished, he felt his reputation had been damaged by the anonymous tweet (Brady).

College applicants have lost out as well from their negative online postings. Although admissions offices are generally not understood to be looking for negative things about applicants on line, if something negative does catch their attention, it can damage a candidate’s likelihood of being accepted ("They Loved Your G.P.A." 1). Michael Hernandez, the former Assistant Director of Admissions at Dartmouth, said college admission officers rarely “proactively” peruse applicants’ social media accounts” (Livingstone). But, thirty percent of the admissions officers have discovered information online that negatively affected an applicant’s prospects ("They Loved Your G.P.A." 1). In Pitzer college in Claremont California, for example, an applicant was denied admissions because of his online behavior. The applicant had befriended a student already enrolled at Pitzer ("They Loved Your G.P.A." 1). When the already enrolled student saw the negative online posts of the applicant, however, the Pitzer student was so offended that the student brought the posts to the attention the Dean of Admissions ("They Loved Your G.P.A." 1). The Dean concluded the comments were unacceptable and denied the applicant admission as a result ("They Loved Your G.P.A." 1). Angel B. Perez, Pitzer’s Dean of Admission said, “We thought, this is not the kind of person we want in our community” ("They Loved Your G.P.A." 1).

Social media sites can also affect the chances of receiving a job (Geno). According to Recruiters Connection, “[a]side from customary reference checks of previous jobs, prospective employers are increasingly using these common internet sites as a means to quietly and informally investigate your background and discretely probe into your private life.” With this being the case, a candidate’s social media sites could be the deciding factor whether he or she earns a job (Recruiters Connection). Indeed, Geoff Moul, who is an owner of MMM& B law firm, said that when deciding between candidates for jobs, he runs a background search on the candidates and reviews their online presence. Given the large number of applicants, if he sees anything even close to questionable, his firm does not hire an applicant. He said this can include anything found on Twitter posts or elsewhere on the Internet (Geoff).

In fact, according to On Device Research, postings on the Internet frequently can cause people to lose jobs they already have, something both kids and adults frequently fail to appreciate (Geno). About 40% of employers have formal social-media policies, according to a survey of 470 companies released this year by the Society for Human Resource Management (Silverman). Of those companies with policies, a third have taken disciplinary action against an employee in the past year (Silverman). Francescas Holding Company is one such employer, and Mr. Morphis, its chief financial officer, found that out the hard way. Mr. Morphis lost his high paying job because he was reckless online. On March 6, he tweeted, "Dinner w/Board tonite. Used to be fun. Now one must be on guard every second." The following day, he posted "Board meeting. Good numbers=Happy Board." On March 13, Mr. Morphis posted on Facebook about a company earnings call: "Earnings released. Conference call completed. How do you like me now Mr. Shorty?.” Morphis tweeted other things about the company which prompted Francescas to start an investigation. After the investigation, the company fired Mr. Morphis because his tweets negatively reflected on the professionalism of the company and violated company policies (Silverman). Because social media can affect your job, it is important to keep a clean profile online.

The benefits of the internet are essential to modern day life for both children and adults, but the imprudent use of the Internet carries with it the risk of reputational, academic, and professional harm. Friends, parents, school administrators, colleges and potential employers all are watching. Teeagers need to take note of that fact and think before they post. Otherwise, they will pay a price for their online activities.

Works Cited

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Livingstone, Maggie. “Social media may affect admission.” The Brown Daily Herald. The Brown Daily Herald, 2014. Web. 19 May 2014. <http://www.browndailyherald.com>.

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Megahn Meir Foundation. Captive Marketing, 12 Oct. 2014. Web. 19 May 2014. <http://www.meganmeierfoundation.org>.

“More than half of children use social media by the age of 10: Facebook is most popular site that youngsters join Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2552658/More-half-children-use-social-media-age-10-Facebook-popular-site-youngsters-join.html#ixzz32BoKFEJG Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook.” Mail Online. Ed. Daily Mail. Associated Newspapers Ltd, 24 May 2013. Web. 19 May 2014. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk>.

Recruiters Connection. LLC, 2014. Web. 19 May 2014. <http://www.recruitersconnectioncareer.com>.

Silverman, Rachel Emma. “Facebook and Twitter Postings Cost CFO His Job.” Wall Street Journal. Ed. Dana Mattioli. Dow Jones Company & inc., 2014. Web. 19 May 2014. <http://online.wsj.com>.

“They Loved Your G.P.A. Then They Saw Your Tweets..” New York Times [New York] 10 Nov.

2013: n. pag. New York Times. Web. 19 May 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com>.