WATCH OUT! DESTRUCTIVE SOCIAL NETWORKS!

Thursday, December 31st 2015. Watch out! If you’re not careful social networks may destroy you. Nowadays when technology and the Internet broaden everyday our ways of communicating and interacting with other humans, social networks can become a headache. Learn in this article how to take care, making them your best allies instead of your worst enemies.

It comes as no secret that social networks hold an important place within our daily activities, and that many have identified and even closely felt their power. We’ve been witnesses to nasty experiences of famous people who have succumbed to the temptation of a post that with a single ‘click’ has ‘buried’ them socially; reaching an infamy far from that gained with artistic achievements or athletic achievements, depending on the person’s trade.

This is why several official institutions like the Institute of Cybersafety of Spain have started campaigns to encourage more responsibility and common sense among the users of social networks when it comes to posting, under the motto ‘Think about it twice, what you post can’t be erased’. Nothing truer.

A very recent example of a rather pathetic case of the consequences of posting irresponsibly was the known and popular soccer player Sergi Guardiola; who was immediately fired from the roster of the Barcelona F.C team product of a post he made on Twitter, after only being hired for 8 hours.

Looking back on it, it can be said that those of us who have had the chance of making a living out of words, understand their power, how we can become slaves of what we say and the damage we can cause in others or ourselves.

In this context, there are official records showing that an elevated percentage of Young professionals lose the opportunity to be hired because of the image they reflect through their social network accounts. For example: A young adult that constantly posts pictures of themselves inebriated or half naked will hardly be considered a promising candidate to work for a serious company.

Or for instance, how many cases of termination have happened when an employee requests permission to leave or calls in sick and then posts a photo album on social network called “My Beach Day”? This happens more often than we think.

So the advice is simple, think it over a couple times before you post text or pictures. Don’t do it in the middle of a rage or extreme feelings of any kind, whether happy or sad. Avoid posting about your personal problems through social media and, most importantly, don’t write stuff you wouldn’t be able to say personally. We are all human and make mistakes, but sometimes we need to think about the cost we must pay.