As a parent you may think that your student knows all there is to know about social media but what you may not realize is that many students aren’t using social media to their advantage.
A recent blog post on US News and World Report gave suggestions to college students on how to use social media. The author gives some do’s and don’ts, when it comes to social media. As a parent you may need to share these tips with your student to help them use social media wisely.
One of the tips included “Do create positive content” and “Don’t post negatives status updates or tweets.” This means that students should post links to articles that interest them, join conversations on topics related to their future career and befriend (Facebook) or follow (Twitter) professionals already working in that career field. On the other hand, students should not complain about professors, jobs, coworkers, etc on their social networks.
Students should not post “questionable photos” of themselves. Whether it be on Facebook, Twitpic, Myspace, or their blog. It is a well-known fact that both possible employers and college admissions counselors have been turning to the web to find out more information on their applicants. Some employers even admit to enlisting their employees to use whatever resources necessary to find out information on an applicant that includes checking out Facebook profiles, no matter the strength of the privacy settings.
Another great tip is to have your student Google themselves so that they know what others are seeing when they type your name into the search engine. If you know what information is accessible, it is easier to find out how to improve what information others see.
Finally, do not make “your online presence all about you.” Your student can avoid doing this by not posting pointless updates having to do with what they are eating, random happenings or anything only your student would care to read.
Social media can do a great amount of good in displaying the excellent qualities your student possess but take these tips and remind your student of the kind of impact their online actions can have on their future.
You can read the original article here.
