It is that time of the year again, spring is officially here and a new bath of eager youths are about to enter the workforce. The transition from student to adulthood can be a challenging one. Behavior that was once acceptable, and even encouraged, can now get you into hot water fast. It can be hard learning and adjusting to these new, unwritten rules of maturity, especially when it comes to social media. McAfee Internet Security Expert, Robert Siciliano, shared his top 10 list of mistakes that graduates make on Facebook:
- Don’t deny this fact: You are being judged every second of the day by people who are in a position to hire and fire you.
- Don’t do that! Learn from other people’s mistakes. When you see someone get in trouble, fired or arrested, don’t do that.
- Don’t friend people you don’t know.
- Don’t take or allow others to photograph/video you with alcohol in your hands, drinking, smoking, doing anything illegal, scantily clad (or less), or making those stupid faces. You are an adult now.
- Don’t like, share, or retweet racist, homophobic or off-color media or comments that make you look like a jerk.
- Don’t swear. Ever. It’s OK to say flippin’, freakin’, heck, maybe even effing, and shite. But once you start dropping F-bombs, you look like an angry, uncouth juvenile delinquent. And seriously, I swear like a cage match fighter — but not online.
- Don’t log on while amorous or inebriated. Nothing good can come of that.
- Don’t ever talk about anyone in authority — your boss, coworkers, teachers, students, the president, or anyone, for that matter — in a negative tone. Seriously. Unless the person is a serial killer or oppressive dictator, play nice.
- Don’t be so public. Lock down your settings. Most social networks have privacy settings that need to be administered at the highest level. Default settings generally leave your networks wide open to attack.
- As Howard Stern’s dad used to say to him: “I told you not to be stupid, you moron.” You have been warned.
We have all heard the story of how a friend of a friend was fired because of a Facebook faux pas, but no one ever thinks it is going to happen to them. With so much personal information online today, one can never be too safe. Be sensible online and save yourself potential headaches in the future.
-Mike