Could Social Media Be Affecting You?

Has the world become more truthful and abrupt? Or, is this because we are now able to make comments while hiding behind a computer screen?

The ability to be brave enough to speak your mind has increased, in part, because of social media. Online, people feel confident and powerful enough to post whatever they are feeling at that moment, and they believe these comments or posts can be made without repercussions or simply deleted (similar to that of Snapchat). But, the truth is, a post is more permanent than any comment you say out loud. Written comments can be documented and reported.

What you say on social media can have an effect on both your personal and professional life, both current and future. From a personal standpoint, you can lose friends based on “spur of the moment” things said via social media.

Say you are trying to get into a sorority, the sorority recruiting will go through your social media accounts to get an idea of what kind of person you are and how you represent yourself on the Internet. They do not like girls who go on their accounts and post flagrant or inappropriate messages. You may think your social media account is private, but think again. Your social media account becomes public once you are trying to get into a sorority, and it doesn’t stop once you are in either. Your account will be monitored. If you post something inappropriate or embarrassing, your sorority’s public relations chair will ask you to remove the comment or post.

In addition, this doesn’t change when you are applying for a job or when working for a company. Once you are part of an organization, what you post directly reflects on the organization whether or not you think it does. Companies will go through your social media accounts before a job interview. Social media is now a part of the hiring process.

With all this being said, it is very important to watch what you are saying on your social media accounts. Celebrities and public figures are scrutinized more for their actions on social media accounts because their actions are more closely monitored than that of a private citizen.

For example, CeeLo Green has recently been scrutinized due to something he posted on his social media account. Green was accused of rape, and instead of leaving the situation alone, Green went to Twitter to release his frustrations.
According to a BuzzFeed article, Green first deleted all of his tweets, defended himself, and then deleted his whole Twitter account. The BuzzFeed article stated that due to his comments and responses on Twitter, his reality show was cancelled. All of this is because of what he said on social media.