There seems to lie a prolonging love-hate relationship with Facebook. Let’s be honest, we love the ability to anonymously check in on people but hate the distracting time it takes away from any productivity in our day. Countless hours are spent updating statuses, posting pictures from our weekends or latest trip somewhere, and let’s not forget, the “stalking” we do from page to page. It’s so simple to click from picture to picture, one page to the next then finding yourself wondering how in the world did I end up on this person’s page? With that being said, have you ever asked yourself “who is looking at my page?” Public seems to be the new private in today’s society and people gather more information about each other through social media apps much easier than most of us even realize.
This makes it only more practical to know how to monitor your own page as best as you can. It’s important to keep in mind that more than just your friends are checking out your page. Now more than ever, job employers are looking to Facebook and other social-networking sites in hiring employees so keeping a clean page is not only beneficial to your own reputation, but to the company’s reputation as well. You might have impressed your future employers with your perfect interview but if they have incentive to look and find something questionable on your Facebook page, they may just change their minds. So, if your doubting what you’re posting, keep these tips in mind to clean up your page and keep it that way!
1. Change your privacy settings
Facebook has it set up so that you can control what you want to be public versus what you want to be private. Take advantage of these settings but also remember that nothing is ever truly 100% private. Regardless of having these settings, it’s always best to think of it as everything being public. Thinking this way will help you monitor your page better and post only what you find appropriate.
2. Be careful what you post!
By no means is this encouraging a false identity or a pseudo portrayal of yourself; it’s only stating to think twice before hitting the submit button. Vulgar words, talking about how drunk you were last night, or saying how much you hate your current job isn’t exactly the way you want to go about updating your status. The same thing is to be said about which pictures you choose to post and tag yourself in. Sure, last weekends party was one to remember but future employers probably aren’t too impressed by that keg stand picture you decided to post. Recall that this is your page, your reputation, so you take control on what you want people to see.
3. Un-tag pictures and remove parts from your profile
Take a quick sweep of your profile by going through pictures and wall posts. People are more likely to take into account what others post on your wall or the pictures they tag you in versus what you say about yourself. While you can’t control what you get tagged in, just as you can’t control what your friend posts on your wall, you can delete it. If you don’t feel comfortable with the inside joke they put on your page for everyone to see, simply remove the post. Facebook allows the option of un-tagging and removing pictures from your page, so make sure to do both if it’s something you didn’t want there in the first place.
4. Look at your page from someone else’s perspective
This is important to keep in mind. If you were an outsider, such as an employer, would you like what you see? Would this be someone you would want to hire? Sometimes it helps looking at it from a family member’s perspective. If it’s something you would be ashamed to show that certain member of the family, maybe it isn’t meant to be up there in the first place.
Check out this quick video of a few extra tips on how to clean up your facebook:
Next time you’re feeling ready to update the world on your life, think twice about what you’re posting and remember all of the potential prospects that could be looking at your page and maybe settle for something less, or none at all.