Gab's Declassified Social Media Survival Guide

When I am online I try to be conscious of what I post. I try not to do things that I will regret. I post things that I think others can and will relate to. I am the same person I am in person as online. I don’t pretend to be anything I am not. I appear as a cool person and a person you could relate to. I think others would say the same thing based on the comments I get on some of my social media pages. Based off of the positive comments I get from people on my social media accounts, I don’t believe people have a bad perception of me. Sometimes before I post things on social media I think about if I will get in trouble for posting it. I have family members who follow me, so I think about If they are going to comment anything or contact me privately when they see it.

Sharing online comes with great benefits. You get to interact with people you wouldn’t normally interact with. Sometimes opportunities may come your way that will make your future a little brighter. You could possibly do some networking and campaigning for business ventures. You ultimately have fun, express yourself, and enjoy the aspects of sharing online. However, you lose privacy once you start sharing online. Whatever you share and as soon as you post it, it is out there for the world to see.

Lack of Control, Permanence, and Immediacy greatly impact our online lives.  When we post something, we don’t have control over who sees it and who doesn’t. When we decide to share something we have no control over that content. People could easily screenshot it and always have access to it, which leads me into the idea of permanence. Even if you delete something, it is always on the internet. People screenshot it, send it to others, re-post it, etc. your content will always be on the Internet. When we post something and as soon as we post it, the whole world (especially if your page is public) has access to that post. Instantly your content is out there and it is no turning back. This affects us greatly, because one mess up online can lead to a tarnished online and real-life reputation. Always think about what you post. Try to post things you won’t regret, because it is out of our hands when it is online.

Do you know that people do background checks on social media? If you didn’t you should be aware. I think that social media background checks can be necessary, but that shouldn’t be the only thing that they use to consider whether you get the job. I believe that all jobs don’t need to do social media background checks. For example, smaller jobs like working at a fast food restaurant shouldn’t do background checks. If you work for a big corporate business, then I think the company should do a background the check. The employers want people who will represent their company correctly.

Try to have a page for business and one for personal uses. If you do have two different pages, don’t associate your personal one with your business account at all;meaning don’t follow/friend your other account, don’t like or re-post anything from your other account, don’t follow the same people you are following on your personal page, etc.

Most people think that free speech is the ability to say whatever they want without any consequences. Well, that isn’t necessarily the case. There is no such thing as total free speech, there is a free speech to an extent. Have you ever said something negative? I know you have, we all have at one point in time. That negative comment you made may have not been protected under the First Amendment. If the statement was obscene, a lie, offensive, promoted violence, possibly destroyed the person’s reputation then it wasn’t protected under the First Amendment.

If you don’t know what “trolling” or what an Internet troll is, I am here to teach you. An Internet troll is a person who post or comments something that  bothers all the parties involved. The goal of an Internet troll is to tear you down, hurt your feelings, make you angry, etc. We cannot stop the all of the trolls on the Internet. The best thing we can do is not become a troll ourselves. Don’t post/comment things that have the intention to purposefully hurt another person.

Block the troll. Don’t give the time of day. If it comes to the point where they have really upset you, try not to respond. If you do respond, be respectful, and don’t show them that you’re upset. Don’t let them/it get to you! This advice goes with negative comments, posts, anything in life.

There are pros and cons to posting anonymously online. One pro is that you can post things and no one will know who you are. This is a good thing if you don’t want to have an online identity, but you still want to be involved with online activity. As a result of people not being able to track people who post anonymously, people tend to post negativity. A con to posting anonymously online is that people may not take your post seriously. People tend to value information coming from people they know. You are basically invisible to them and you’re opinion, post, etc. is little to no value for them.

MY TOP 3 TIPS:

1. Be very careful and smart about what you post online.  Always think twice. Think about your future.

2. Don’t share any personal information.

3. Don't pay attention to the negativity and don't be negative yourself <3