Social media stays a pinnacle device for corporate recruiters and HR specialists to vet employment candidates. At the same time, it’s miles a herbal manner for human beings to maintain in touch and can be a key channel for agencies to persuade customers and build loyalty and “likability” of both non-public and professional brands.
In my role as assistant director of communications at the Walker School in Marietta, I work to teach students to apply social media to their gain whilst avoiding the traps, negativity, and dangers that lurk online. I’d provide comparable recommend to specialists inside the commercial enterprise network, with a few additions and caveats.
Our pinnacle tips to students — which can be each bit as relevant to adults for his or her personal social media channels — are to at least one) use common sense, 2) take advantage of privacy settings, and three) submit fine. For adults specifically, I’ll add 4) live abreast of the cutting-edge social media platforms and apps, 5) if you have kids, display their behavior online often.
Commonplace feel. First and foremost, use commonplace sense. If there’s anything on any social media systems that you wouldn’t want your grandmother, HR supervisor, or boss to look at, eliminate it! Think it could most effectively be seen the simplest by using your friends or on a confined network? Think again. Don’t take that danger.
Privateness Settings. Use privateness settings to your advantage.
♦ On the whole, don’t accept pal requests from human beings you don’t recognize.
♦ Set fb so that the best pals of pals might also contact you.
♦ Take advantage of the Facebook “View As” feature that allows users to view your profile as others see it. You may additionally set your privacy settings to limit who can see beyond posts.
♦ Set your privacy settings to require your permission earlier than any posts you are tagged show up to your feed.
♦ Set Instagram so that best your accredited followers can see your pix and make your Twitter feed non-public.
♦ Google yourself frequently. It sounds narcissistic, but it’s far honestly the high-quality way to stay aware of statistics approximately you on the internet. You will see a snapshot of your virtual footprint through a quick search — and may begin cleaning up your online profiles, if needed.
Submit wonderfully. From young adults making use of the colleges to adults in search of that subsequent upward profession move, take some time to make use of social media to expose your “excellent self.”
♦ post about your goals, aspirations, volunteer efforts, community activities. Build a digital portfolio that highlights your abilties, achievements, and expert accomplishments.
♦ However, keep away from trashing anything or all of us, particularly your place of employment, employers, or authority figures. Keep away from insults, whining, or trash-talking – even in jest. The tone is hard to translate through text.
♦ Use hashtags to your advantage. find people or groups that percentage your hobbies and passions! (Hashtags, or the quantity signal observed utilizing some words — #ThisIsAHashtag — are used to mark keywords, topics, occasions on social media platforms consisting of fb, Twitter, and Instagram.)
♦ today’s Social Media systems and Apps. Social media options are ever-evolving. If you have children, are interested in communication or advertising, or paintings in a management capability (or ever wish to within the future), you then need to know what’s available and how it works.
♦ Tracking Your infant online. Do now not count on you. This is a one-time conversation. New social media apps are trending all the time.
♦ Ask your youngsters what apps they use and what they like about them. Use this as a platform to have a bigger conversation about social media and its impact on someone’s popularity inside the present and the future.
