Stop posting pictures or statuses about illegal activities on Facebook. According to Nolo-Law for All, two thirds of all recruiters and half of employers research their applicants’ online presence. Employers have been known to turn down applicants because of a negative photo, status or “about” page on their Facebook account.
College admission offices are able to look at the Facebook pages of their applicants. According to a CNN Opinion article by Nicolaus Mills and the Kaplan Survey, 27 percent of college admission counselors looked at their applicant’s Facebook accounts during the admission process.
Despite these realities, every morning when I check my Facebook I see another one of my friends has posted a picture of his or herself holding a beer, a red cup or drinking straight from a champagne bottle. There are far too many statuses on my news feed about how hammered friends are going to be tonight, how drunk they got last night or about fighting through their current hangovers.
The red solo cup has become closely associated with alcohol and underage drinking. Because of that close association, it’s possible that drinking a non-alcoholic beverage out of a red solo cup will be misconstrued as drinking an alcoholic beverage in a Facebook photo. For that reason, I would recommend setting down any beverage in a red solo cup before taking a photo. You don’t want an employer or admissions counselor to misinterpret the picture.
Posting these activities can be extremely detrimen-
tal to your online reputation. For
people under the age of 21, posting pictures and statuses about drinking is providing the world with proof of your participation in illegal activities. Even if you are above the age of 21, be careful about the number of pictures or statuses you post relating to alcohol. Even though drinking may be legal, the frequency and level of drunkenness on your page can be unattractive to potential employers or graduate school
admissions counselors.
Closely monitor your presence on the Internet. It’s important to maintain a clean Facebook account that doesn’t contain any evidence of illegal activity. Social media is wildly popular in today’s society. It allows us to check up on our friends and keep in touch with loved ones easily. However, it also allows employers and college admissions officers to check up on their applicants. Therefore, protection is necessary.
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