We live in a world where are online presence is considered just as important as the impressions we make on people in person. It is because of this that I am cautious about what I post online, both for myself and also out of respect for those in my life. Here are a few things I think we should all consider before we hit publish.
1. It could effect your career prospects
It’s not news that when we apply to jobs, employers are looking at our profiles. If you have posts that are visible to the public of you complaining about your current job or photos of you enjoying yourself a little too much this will not bode well with prospective employers. Even if you are saying to yourself: “well mine is set to private, no one can see what I put out there”. That may be true, but privacy permissions can be slippery and who knows, maybe the job you’re applying to has someone you know working there (perhaps a colleague from high school you forgot added you). Or as I have experienced, in any communications role, your boss may need to add you as a friend so that they can give you administrator privileges on the company’s Facebook page.
2. You might look like a Drama Queen
Complaining about your friends or putting out vague shady status updates does not make you look good. Airing your dirty laundry all over social media sends a message to people that you cannot be trusted. If you are willing to complain about person X, who is to say you aren’t going to gossip about other people. If you have a beef with someone, address the person directly. This is so important in relationships too. The only person you should be talking to about the problems in your relationship is your partner.
3. You might look unintelligent or ignorant
Passionate statuses often lead to spelling errors. I remember reading a post an acquaintance wrote where instead of typing her relationship had ‘definitely’ had some ups and downs (an overshare right there), she mistyped and it read her relationship ‘defiantly’ had some up and downs. Sometimes it’s the slip of the keyboard or our mind is filling in the blanks because we know what we mean, but to the public reading it, we just seem dumb.
4. People might get annoyed
People who continuously (daily or multiple times per day) post photos of them with their partner, of their workout or of their food—well after a while it just gets to be too much. If you had an amazing experience travel or otherwise and want to share a picture here and there—then yeah that’s cool. However, people who post ten photos that are practically identical are just cluttering up the Internet. I’m sorry, but no one cares about your Instagram carousel of selfies.
Just remember that while it’s natural to want to share and engage with your peers you don’t have to put it all out there. Take a deep breath and ask yourself: what value is there from posting this?