Social media is a virtual community or network where people communicate, create and share ideas and information, and interact in many other ways. As the popularity and use of social media grows, the world has witnessed its impact not only on social life, but also in business. Increasingly, internet users are spending more time on social media sites than on other websites.

The development of many types of mobile devices with browsing capabilities has further contributed to the overall time spent on social media. Social media has massive advantages, such as:

1. It allows interaction between people who would never have interacted or encountered each other.
2. It gives people the opportunity to give opinions and receive opinions from a wide array of sources.
3. Social media has made event organization easier; since all one needs to do is post the details of the event and all friends will see.
4. Businesses are employing social media marketing to boost sales and maximize profits.
5. People use social media to network and find jobs.
6. Social media is useful in shaping people’s opinion.
7. Social media is fun.

Although social media has many benefits, there are certain disadvantages associated with it. Research has shown that in addition to providing privacy issues and affecting personal relationships, it can have a negative impact on higher education enrollment success as well as future job prospectus.

Impact of Social Media on Job Prospectus

It is very important for high school and college students to be aware that the information they share on social media may negatively affect their future. A survey of American young adults revealed that 29% of them believe that a comment, certain personal information and photo they have posted may compromise their current and future career prospectus.

Today, a very large percentage of employers are using social media as an integral part of screening all prospective employees. According to research findings, about 13% of employers turned down candidates who lied about their experience and qualifications, 11% rejected candidates based on inappropriate comments, photos or negative comments about a previous employer, while about 10% rejected candidates who posted content or photos of them using drugs.

According to the Huffington Post, an MP turned down an application from a student, based on a foul mouthed tweet the student had posted. The digital footprint one leaves behind can tell a lot about a person, so everyone, and in particular students, should take care of what they put out there.

Impact of Social Media on University and College Enrollment

High school students should realize that it is an offense to engage in any behavior or activity, including social media activity, which brings the university into shame or disgrace. College and university admissions professionals may use an applicant’s social media content in order to gauge the applicant’s social authority, personality and ability to influence others negatively.

Social media has reached near saturation levels, and students are sharing nearly all aspects of their lives. High school students are using social media to interact, seek information about colleges, and communicate with the outside world. This reliance on social media has a direct impact on admission, with websites such as Facebook, Campus Buddy, and College Prowler being increasingly used.

It is therefore important for high school and college students to learn about the basic social media privacy settings and to protect themselves from negative perceptions. Before posting any photograph, making a negative comment or posting any other negative content, students should realize that anything on the public domain could have an impact on their future. Students should take precaution by deleting any past negative posts, photos or comments. Another solution would be to close their existing accounts and to open new ones.

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Author Bio

Joshua Turner is a writer who creates informative articles in relation to business. In this article, he describes the importance of online awareness and aims to encourage further study with a masters in organizational development.