There are many common mistakes on social media that can harm you. Our daily life is permeated by media, internet, and social online platforms such as Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s Google Plus, or Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR).
Indeed, personal relationships have also changed over the past decade and a half, following diverse technological developments. Social relations have even been shaped by social media, creating at times opportunities to meet people, and reconnecting with those whom you thought you’d lost contact with forever. Yet social media has also presented new hazards and risks regarding personal relationships. The exposure of our intimate life and lifestyle, self-broadcasting phenomena, and personal public appearance through media has introduced new ways of relating to each other, manners which contain new risks inherent in misinterpretations or abuse of the new rules and codes of conduct.
But the effects of social media do not only concern one’s personal life and relationships, but also their work and job positions. Sometimes, social media can help professionally, helping demonstrate expertise, or allowing networking through platforms such as LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD). Nevertheless, it might also affect your job position. Regardless of the privacy settings of your Facebook page, most job recruiters check search engines for background on candidates, and their evaluation might be influenced by your overall profile. Moreover, everyday behavior in social media can impact your career and job position.
Indeed some jobs are quite stressful or boring, and might lead to people using social media for complaining about it. Some jobs have pretty high salaries, but are indeed nerve-racking. If you were wondering which are the most stressful jobs, then our piece on What’s The Most Stressful Job? 6 (More) To Add To Your List makes for great reading.
So, it is no news that social media can harm you, both on your personally and professionally. But this isn’t the end of the story. Brands usually use social media to feature their products and services. A careless use can create an unappealing image, and hurt their business as well.
Now then, here are some of the most common mistakes on social media that can harm you, be you employer or employee. Some might not be that obvious, while others, even a teenager would know better than to do; and yet people still repeat the same mistakes regardless. With no specific order, check out our list of most common mistakes on social media that can harm you!
No. 10 Playing Hooky
If you are planning on leaving your job early to go to a party while claiming a family emergency, be sure not to post any pictures online. Getting caught skipping work as if you were in high school is indeed going to hurt your career, and will probably get you fired as well.
No. 9 Politically incorrect posts
Inappropriate criticisms, or racist or insensitive remarks online are a frequent cause of firings. These remarks might offend not only the world but also particular customers. So, if you fancy some harsh, even ironic comments, you should avoid posting them online (or do so anonymously if you must).
No. 8 Blog inappropriately
Ever since blogs started to appear, people began to use them as platforms to share information, opinions, news and also to sell products. Yet, blogger fantasy also led to people portraying their personal everyday life as a diary, online. These blogs exposed, sometimes anonymously, details of intimate life. Yet, keeping these personal webpages anonymous isn’t easy at a workplace, and co-workers might find out about them, making them public. So if you like to blog, try to keep it about hobbies and superficial interests, as they might hurt your job position otherwise.
No. 7 Being bored at work, and telling everyone online
A pretty common mistake: we tell everyone on our online network that we are bored at work. It is usual to complain about boredom, but doing it during working hours, and about work, isn’t a very good strategy if you are planning on keeping that position for some time.
No. 6 Indiscretions when working with children
People working with children should always be extra-careful with what they reveal of their personal life. So if you are a teacher or work with children, be sure not to post pictures from a party. It might not be the kind of behavior parents and head-masters expect from you as school teacher.
No. 5 Tweet about a job offer
Even if you are not being inappropriate or rude, everything you say on Twitter or Facebook can be rapidly seen by co-workers, bosses, or employers. Moreover, letting everyone online know about a job position opening might increase competition, as well as compromise your future employment.
No. 4 Criticizing work conditions
If you are not satisfied with your working conditions, the best way to deal with it is definitely not a post online. Yet complaining about work conditions is technically protected speech under labor law, and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) protects the employees. Therefore, if working conditions are indeed unacceptable, and can hurt customers and workers, an appropriate post can help these institutions force companies to attend the issue.
No. 3 Deprecate clients
Being tired of customers’ complaints and clients’ behavior is a usual feeling among certain jobs which deal every day with individuals’ annoyances and bad humor. Yet, the company at which you are working might not like a comment criticizing customers. Moreover, those customers might even see these criticisms and post a complaint to the company in return. So when you’re in public, sometimes it’s better to just put on a smile and save the criticizing for when you’re alone with your friends.
No. 2 Pick a public fight
Getting publicly criticized can lead to a public fight. Yet, this behavior, although sometimes justified, can hurt you professionally. Therefore, if someone is cyber bullying you, the best strategy is to ignore them, as the chances of compromising your job through these public fights is indeed higher than the eventual settlement you might get with your bully.
No. 1 Talk trash about your boss
No one even needs to mention the fact that talking trash online about your boss, colleagues or co-workers is indeed going to get you fired. If you are tired of your co-workers, the best option is probably either to talk with them, or simply ignore them. If you hate your boss, well, welcome to every employees’ world. Just be sure to deal with it silently, or privately.
