10 social media do's and don'ts for high school students

10 Social Media “Do’s and Don’ts” for High School Students

YourCollegeConcierge.net

67% of admissions officers surveyed in 2015 said they had looked up college applicants on Facebook. And 40% didn’t like what they found.

These days, social media comes with great responsibility, whether you're just star9ng high school or finishing up college. On one hand, it’s a convenient way to communicate and connect with others...but on the other hand, it can be detrimental if used irresponsibly. It can impact the impression college admissions officers or employers have of you and cost you a spot at your dream school or a job.

The good news is that most of the bad consequences are preventable and easy to avoid with some foresight.

Here are 10 social media mistakes high school students should avoid...and keep in mind that social media circumstances vary by school, user and situa9on, so use your best judgement and think twice when you share something publicly.


Bullying is a serious, vicious problem in schools today. Hateful behavior and words can cause violence, depression and unrest in a student body. If a student turns to social media, blogs or other online spaces to post hur<ul comments, the risks are immeasurable.

In many cases, a student will face expulsion as well as serious criminal prosecu?on. This can be a nasty record that forever scars your reputa?on.


1 DON’T be a bully


2 DON’T trash your teachersSimilar to bullying, students that post nega?ve comments online about teachers (or post embarrassing photos of them) are also taking a serious risk. Not only do your instructors have a right to privacy and respect, but you never know which one of your teachers will hold the keys to a great recommenda?on for your college, internship, or job.

High school seniors should be careful not to nega?vely post about specific colleges or geographical areas. Admissions officers thoroughly inves?gate the social media ac?vity and personali?es of college applicants. One nega?ve tweet could be the death of your college acceptance.


DON’T post illegal activitiesOkay, okay...high school and college are ?mes well known for experimenta?on and explora?on with ac?vi?es and substances. But when a photo or video goes up online of you caught in the act doing something you wouldn’t want your mom, teacher or police to see...you open yourself up to expulsion as well as criminal prosecu?on.

And not just now, but for the REST of your life. Even if your profile is set to private, a friend can download and save incrimina?ng photos that he or the authori?es can use against you in the future.

Go through the content on your social media profiles ever so oNen and look at it through the eyes of an employer or your parent to make sure all of it is legit.

3

This goes for anyone, not just students. This is for your safety, not because it could cost you a job or hurt your reputa?on. If you post anything that tells the public your loca?on, your address, your phone number, or any other personal informa?on, you have no idea who’s eyes could find that.

For example, a friend of ours and mother of a high school senior shared that her daughter posted her class schedule to Facebook when she first got it. She wanted to share with friends...but that schedule included her social security number, student ID, full name, birthday and other informa?on that could immediately be accessed by anyone without any effort. Her iden?ty could be stolen in a second from that one “harmless” post.


4 DON’T post confidential information

Like not sharing your personal informa?on, you also want to beware of sharing your specific loca?on with your social check-‐ins-‐-‐-‐especially if you’re alone. It makes it easy to connect with nearby friends or keep your parents informed of where you are, but it makes it easy for predators to follow you, too.


5 Don’t share your specific location

Imagine asking your teacher to give you an extension on your essay paper because you need to visit your “sick” grandmother. Instead, you go to a concert...and your teacher finds out from hearing about it from a status update that gets seen by your friends. Guess what your grade is going to be.

This is the same when it comes to lying about professional or academic achievements if you’re applying to college or an internship. Admissions officers and employers WILL inves?gate.


6 DON’T lie

A threat alone, even if you don’t carry it out, is unbelievably serious. Even if it’s an anonymous, empty threat in an obscure online forum full of strangers...it will raise red flags. As soon as authori?es have located a threat, they have the right to inves?gate-‐-‐-‐and they will.

A University of Maryland student was arrested aNer pos?ng his inten?ons to “kill enough people to make it to na?onal news” on Reddit. Police arrested him in his dorm room, even though he had no firearms or weapons on him at the ?me.


7 DON’T threaten violence

"Whenever I evaluate a poten?al employee, I always take a look at what is publicly visible on their Facebook profile," says Ryan Cohn, vice president of social/digital opera?ons at What's Next Marke?ng. "On two separate occasions, I have rejected entry level prospects (finishing their senior year of college) for featuring firearms in their profile picture. Both were qualified in terms of experience and otherwise would have been worthy of an interview." (Source: Mashable.com)

If you’re applying to work at a local restaurant or you’re a high school student applying to college, your social media profiles are HIGHLY likely to be looked at as part of the decision-‐making process. So making sure your photos and updates are clean is key. If you find you get tagged in photos that you wouldn’t want an employer or college admissions officer to see, make sure you remove the tag as soon as possible.


8 DO keep a professional profile

http://www.whatsnextmarketing.com/

http://www.whatsnextmarketing.com/

Never rely on the privacy sebngs on social media networks 100%. Although most of the networks update you with privacy improvements, the changes are hard to follow. However diligent you are in protec?ng your social media iden?ty, assume anything you post is fair game.

If you don’t want something to be seen, don’t post it on the Internet.


9 DO maintain privacy

Look, it’s not rocket science, and you’ve probably heard most of this before. But it doesn’t hurt to remember to use common sense and think twice before sharing your update with the world.

In the moment it can seem harmless. It’s the moments aNer they can seem much harsher, especially if it’s seen by the eyes of someone you weren’t thinking of at the ?me… even years later.


10 DO use common sense

10 social media do's and don'ts for high school students

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