How do you Want to Represent Yourself?

The University of Oregon’s popular campus newspaper, Oregon Daily Emerald, shared an important article on “Drunken Facebook” posts and how they can detect serious health issues that students may not be aware of, yet. While the article makes a strong argument about the drinking issues college students have, I wanted to bring up the importance of regulating your Facebook and other social media sites – a discussion that has been drilled into my head the moment I became a journalism student.

It is not breaking news that college students binge drink. It is a common stereotype to vision a college undergrad on a Saturday night with a red cup in one hand and a “half gal” in the other. This is because college kids love to take photos of their drunk nights at their friends house playing beer pong and flip cup all night. What these students seem to be unaware of – along with the physical effects – are the negative effects these photos have on their future.

People make assumptions about others and create an idea of who people are by what their Facebook shows. Profile pictures, albums and statuses are  conscious decisions that you may not know, but portray you in a certain light. These decisions make a good or bad impression on your viewers. If the majority of your photos involve alcohol, drugs and/or being wasted, you are telling people that you love to party and get a little crazy. It is okay to enjoy drinking and have a social life, however do you want your grandma to know that you black out every night?

Photo from Laughing Squid

Potential employers almost always check out candidates’ Facebooks because it tells them a lot about the person. If a company checks out your page and simply finds photos of you drinking or can tell that you are obviously intoxicated, they are going to easily make the decision to cross you off their list. A business is investing in you to do work for their company the last person they want to hire is the college grad that prides themselves in their drinking abilities.

I remind myself every couple months to go through my photos and comments and make sure that there is not any content that I feel misrepresents myself as a professional. Facebook is a site to connect with friends and family, however remember that everything you post is exposed to the internet and even though you can have strict privacy settings, there are ways for others to see your page. Be conscious of all your decisions you make on the internet. You never know who is looking!