Avoid Social Media Snafus

Issues involving social media have been making headlines lately, and hitting close to home.  An Elk River High School student was recently suspended for a tweet the school deemed inappropriate.  There are lots of examples of people getting in trouble for social media activities.  So the question is:  How can you avoid snafus with work and school?

USE PRIVACY SETTINGS WITH CAUTION

Most social media sites have privacy settings that are customizable...BUT!   Be sure you fully understand them and check your settings frequently, since media outlets, such as Facebook, can update or change their policies at any time.

It's important to remember that not everything is completely private.  Friends and Followers can re post or share your photos with their friends and acquaintances, which may contain people that you don't want to have viewing your activities.

DON'T OVERSHARE

Use restraint and good judgement when posting online.  Some thoughts or opinions are not always appropriate for sharing on social media.  The same goes for photos.  When uploading and tagging photos of others, put yourself in your friends shoes and make sure you're not posting something that could put them in jeopardy with their school or job.

CLEAN UP YOUR PROFILE

Take the time to clean up your online profile.  You may have made some bad decisions when posting in the past.  Remember that you can always go back and remove , delete, or untag any embarrassing or incriminating photos or posts you wouldn't want your school or employer to see.

READ TWICE...POST ONCE

We can often get distracted or rushed, so when using social media, make sure you check your update carefully before posting as to avoid any embarrassing mistakes.

If your job involves running a companies social media account, be sure to be especially careful as to not mix it up with your personal accounts.  Many professionals have lost their jobs over accidentally posting a personal update from the company account.

Remember that a disclaimer in your profile, like "all tweets are my own"  doesn't protect you. Be careful and use good judgement before you post.

USE THE THREE SECOND RULE

If it takes more than three seconds for you to determine if a post is appropriate, then don't post it.  You shouldn't have to think about it.

REMEMBER THAT EVERYTHING IS ALWAYS PUBLIC

The bottom line and most important thing to remember :  Anything you post online can be with you FOREVER!  Even if you delete your profile.

Even though you can be extremely careful with your privacy settings, it's a good rule to never post anything you wouldn't want your boss or grandmother to see.