Who took the "Social" out of Media?

Social media used to be all fun and games, but suddenly everyone is looking at it very seriously. Some companies are using it to reach out in new ways, including marketing and employee screening.

Career counselors are warning us to check our privacy settings and clean up our profiles. While I do have privacy settings on my Facebook, doesn't this warning directly conflict with the mission of social media? If we censor ourselves in every medium, where can we truly express ourselves?

This leads to some serious questions:

-Should employers make hiring decisions based upon online content?

-Should employers be allowed to take punitive action against employees in response to online content?


This is a difficult issue which will rage on in the coming decade. I follow these guidelines when using social media:

1. Play fair, do not use your platform to bash other people or organizations. Do not hide behind your anonymity.

2. Keep it (somewhat) clean. Ask yourself "would I be embarrassed if my friends saw this?"

3. Don't take yourself so seriously. Social media was conceived as an informal (and fun) channel of communication.

While I have always believed in controlling personal information on the internet, the idea that a perspective employer may judge my character based upon my online content is unpleasant. While there are always extreme cases, I hope freedom of both information and expression will prevail.