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December 3, 2010
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By: Tammy Blythe Goodman
The SafetyWeb Blog
Table of Contents Child Safety
SafetyWeb provides a blog with recent updates and
Introduction
tips about online safety.
How Employers Use Social Media
How Social Media ʻMistakesʼ Impact Getting Hired or Fired
12 Tips for College Students Using Social Media
Resources
References

Introduction
College students are busier than ever. Reading, writing, studying for exams, completing special
projects, enjoying a social life… you name it- theyʼre busy doing it. These days, they must add one
more thing to their list of things to do: manage their online reputations. In todayʼs economy, the
competition is tough; one false move online and your chances of landing that dream job could be in
major jeopardy.

The Internet is permanent, plain and simple. Imagine a bathroom wall full of graffiti, except this wall
can be read by anyone with an Internet connection, including graduate, medical, and law school
admissions counselors as well as future employers. Many college students donʼt realize how much
information about them can be easily found online, nor do they understand the consequences of that
information being publically available.

A digital footprint can last a lifetime unless an individual diligently practices online reputation
management (monitoring). In this article, we will examine what every college student and their
parents need to know: the importance of managing an online reputation.

How Employers Use Social Media

Many employers use the Internet and social media for recruiting potential job candidates. Web sites
like LinkedIn, Plaxo and MyWorkster are useful sites to help job applicants network, search for jobs,
and enhance their careers. Itʼs important to remember, however, that an individualʼs social presence
online can have a direct impact on how an employer thinks about a candidate.

Universities are starting to warn students about employersʼ usage of online information as well. Jay
Rayman, senior director of career services at Pennsylvania State University says, “People have a
false sense of security about their personal information out there on the Web… they think only their
friends will see it.” [7]

According to a 2009 study conducted by Harris Interactive, hired by Career Builder.com, 45% of the
2,667 Human Resources professionals surveyed admitted to using social networking sites to
research perspective employees, and 11% planned on implementing social media screening in the
very near future. [3]

“This type of screening is clearly on the rise,” said Megan Anderson, employment attorney at Gray
Plant Mooty. “But there is very little legal guidance and people donʼt know the landscape.” [4]

In December of 2009, Microsoft released statistics from a survey that they commissioned which
drastically topped those numbers, stating that 79% of hiring managers and job recruiters in the
United States reviewed online information about job applicants, while 70% of those surveyed said
that theyʼve rejected applicants based on their findings. [6]

So, what types of sites are HR professionals and job recruiters using for their research? Hereʼs a
breakdown of what Microsoft learned:

Search engines 78%

Social networking sites 63%
Photo and video sharing sites 59%
Professional and business networking sites 57%
Personal Web sites 48%
Blogs 46%
News sharing sites (e.g. Twitter) 41%
Online forums and communities 34%
Virtual world sites 32%
Web sites that aggregate personal information 32%
Online gaming sites 27%
Professional background checking services 27%
Classifieds and auction sites 25%
None of these 2% [5]

How Social Media ʻMistakesʼ Impact Getting Hired or Fired

Many employers use social networking sites (like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter) along with
personal blogs to look for what they call “digital dirt.” [5] We wondered what types of online content
would actually affect an employerʼs decision on either hiring or firing an employee. Hereʼs a
breakdown of what Microsoft found in the same aforementioned study:

Concerns about the candidateʼs lifestyle 58%

Inappropriate comments and text written by the candidate 56%
Unsuitable photos, videos and information 55%
Inappropriate comments or text written by friends and relatives 43%
Comments criticizing previous employers, coworkers or clients 40%
Inappropriate comments or text written by colleagues or work acquaintances 40%
Membership in certain groups and networks 35%
Discovered that information the candidate shared was false 30%
Poor communication skills displayed online 27%
Concern about the candidateʼs financial background 16%

Dan Schawbel, managing partner of Millennial Branding LLC and founder of the Student Branding
Blog, receives many internship applications from students who do not manage their online
reputations. “For instance,” he writes in The Wall Street Journal, “I searched for a studentʼs name on
Facebook, and a group appeared that was protesting her getting kicked out of her dormitory. I
decided to hire someone else!” [9]

People may think that they canʼt be fired for things said or done online, but thatʼs simply not true. In
fact, unless there is a contract with the employer stating otherwise, they can most certainly fire an
employee based on online behavior. [1]

12 Tips for College Students Using Social Media

The good news is that young adults between the ages of 18-29 have shown a positive trend in
taking steps to protect themselves by managing their online reputations, according to a May 2010
study conducted by Pew Research Center. Specifically, 44% of that age group says they limit the
amount of public information available about them, while 47% actually take the time to delete
unwanted comments made by other people on their profile, and 41% have detagged themselves
from photographs other people have posted of them online. [8]

Now, we must encourage all college students to do the same. Students enrolled in colleges and
universities must be vigilant when it comes to managing their online reputations. Below is a list of
12 simple tips for college students and their families to keep in mind while they are in school.

1. Privacy is key. Set all of your social networking accounts to private and maintain your privacy
settings so you avoid posting too much personal information. This includes any accounts on
 Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and any other social networking site you may use. On Facebook,
donʼt forget to set your privacy settings to include photos and videos that others post of you to
avoid being found via basic Web searches. Also, since Facebook adds new features often, itʼs
a good idea to revisit your privacy settings periodically too. [2]
2. Avoid oversharing. Donʼt say anything you wouldnʼt normally share with a prospective employer.
Experts say itʼs a good idea to refrain from talking about politics or religion at work, and the
same holds true for social networking sites. Any strong thoughts that lean one way over another
could potentially rub somebody the wrong way and smear your online reputation. Similarly, be
mindful of joining what could be considered politically incorrect groups.
3. Donʼt look guilty by association. Even if you maintain a private online account, your friends
could be saying inappropriate things about you, posting embarrassing photos, or wreaking digital
havoc on your future. Also, if your friends talk about drugs and alcohol 24/7, you very easily
could be linked to that type of behavior. Pay close attention to who you are friends with online
and consider deleting an acquaintance that may say or do unsuitable things online.
4. Stop sharing unsuitable content. Avoid posting inappropriate media to any photo or video
sharing website like YouTube. Even if you use a different username on these sites, there are
ways people can trace them back to your email address, so your best bet is to avoid posting
things there all together. This rule of thumb goes for sharing content with your friends too
because you simply canʼt control what they will do with your content, as was the case with a
Duke University student who sent a PowerPoint presentation about her sexual encounters to a
few friends before it quickly went viral. [1]
5. Stay offline when under the influence. If youʼve just spent a night partying with friends, keep
your computer off, or your online mistakes could come back to haunt you. Sometimes referred
to as “drunk Facebooking,” posting inappropriate comments or photographs while inebriated may
cast a negative reflection on your online persona. Similarly, avoid posting content that proves
you have broken your collegeʼs honor code policy (like a photograph of you and your roommates
drinking in your dorm room which is located on a dry campus), or updating your status when
youʼre supposed to be at class (sites like Facebook maintain digital time stamps for every
member).
6. Stop Complaining. Avoid speaking negatively about school, current or previous jobs, employers,
classmates, or professors. Similarly, donʼt update your Facebook status only when you have
something negative to say; find a balance so your digital persona doesnʼt look too angry.
7. Be consistent. Make sure your job and education information on your social networking profile
matches the information on your resume, or you could be caught lying.
8. Separate social networking from job networking. Avoid using social networking sites like
Facebook for professional networking, and build up your career contacts on other sites like
LinekdIn.com.
9. Consider a name change. This trend of keeping certain social networking sites like Facebook
separate from job networking has become increasingly popular as students change their names
on their social profiles. Some simply use their middle names as their last names. [7]
10. Google yourself. This is probably the first thing a potential employer will do if they want to find
information about you online, so why not be a step ahead of them? By doing a quick online
search, you can find some (note: not all) information publically available. The faster you take
care of any questionable content, the better.
11. Generate positive content. Experts agree that the best way to counteract negative content is by
generating positive information that will rank high on search engines like Google. Sites like
Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter all rank high in Google searches. [6]
12. Use Google/Profiles. The search engineʼs latest tool allows users to create a personal profile to
literally control what people see about them. Visit www.google.com/profiles for more
information.

Resources
SafetyWeb is an invaluable Internet monitoring tool and Facebook monitoring application for college
students and their parents to help manage online reputations. For $10 a month, the service scours
hundreds of websites daily to find any and all public information about the student, making it a
convenient online reputation management solution for parents and college students. If any
inappropriate photos, videos, or content postings become public – the SafetyWeb subscriber is
immediately notified via a digital report and email or text message that clearly indicates the reason
for concern. Additionally, SafetyWeb helps subscribers remove unwanted online content by offering
step by step solutions, or working with a siteʼs administrator directly through the 1-888-SAFE-WEB
customer support line.

Other helpful resources:

1. Connect Safely
2. National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC)
3. National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA)
4. Privacy.org
5. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

References
 1. http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=159329&catid=188
2. http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/10/23/ways-stay-safe-facebook/
3. http://mashable.com/2009/08/19/social-media-screening/
4. http://www.startribune.com/business/83725197.html
5. http://www.theworkbuzz.com/career-advice/online-reputation/
6. http://www.microsoft.com/privacy/dpd/research.aspx
7. http://articles.cnn.com/2010-03-29/tech/facebook.job-seekers_1_facebook-hiring-online-
reputation?_s=PM:TECH
8. http://gigaom.com/2010/05/26/online-reputation-management-now-a-full-time-job/
9. http://blogs.wsj.com/hire-education/2010/06/25/manage-your-online-
reputation%E2%80%94before-someone-else-does/

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