Social media sites are a great way to connect with friendsand share pictures, videos and ideas. However, the racy pictures from springbreak in Cabo or your last Dave Matthews concert could cause problems whentrying to advance your career. More and more employers and officers are looking at applicants' social media pagesto help learn more about an applicant's character. Therefore, it's importantthat your online image is in pristine condition. If you're worried that yourFacebook, Twitter, Instagram or other social pages aren't up to par, than hereare some simple ways to clean up your act online.
1.Re-evaluate Your Uploads
Whenthinking of how to make your accounts more appropriate, take the time toevaluate the content you display. Delete any questionable photos or videos immediately.As impressive as your beer pong win or keg stand was, the professionals lookingat your page will view this negatively. As a rule of thumb, if it would beembarrassing for your grandmother to see the photo, chances are it should bedeleted.
2.it Clean
Dueto the nature of social media sites, free speech and ideas are not uncommon. Althoughspeaking your mind and sharing opinions is acceptable, doing so with crude or inappropriatelanguage isn't. Before you begin applying for jobs or grad school, make sure todelete any posts, comments, tweets or updates that are foul or offensive in anyway. This is important because you want to appear professional to counselorsand .
3.DitchYour Friends
Onsocial media sites it's easy to become friends with hundreds of people, some ofwhom you may barely know. By having hundreds of friends, you open your personalinformation up to a huge audience who could share your material or couldcomment, post or tag something unsavory on your page. To avoid any friend orfollower faux pas, take inventory of who you're connected with and deleteanyone who isn't an actual friend.
4.Private
Whentrying to keep professionals from viewing your social media pages, privacysettings are key. When tweaked to the highest settings, it is very difficultfor anyone who isn't your friend or follower to see your social media activity.If you still want to maintain some of your freedom of speech or keep somephotos posted, making your social media pages at their highest privacy settingscan help you do just that. However, keep in mind that this method isn'tfoolproof and that you still should maintain a modest Internet presence.
When applying to your next job or for a graduate , it's important to give yourself every advantagepossible. This means making sure that your social media accounts are up to par.Before you even begin applying for professional positions, delete any crude,foul or inappropriate pictures, posts or videos. Also delete any unnecessaryfriends and fortify your privacy settings. Above all, censoring yourself andyour past and future social media content will go far to make sure what youpost online won't cause you problems when trying to promote yourself.