Online Presence
Having an online presence is essential and signifies that one is involved or keeps up with modern trends. The 21st century is a digital age where having an online presence could determine or undermine a person’s or an organization’s success. Advancement of technology and the internet has enabled people to become opinionated and have a say in almost all trending topics in different places on earth. In addition to this, the development of smartphones has allowed people to have easier access to the internet as well as their favorite social media platforms, making them spend hours posting, liking, and commenting on other people’s posts. In today’s world, being popular means that one has a large following on social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Social media has given people a platform to air their views and exercise their constitutional right to express themselves and share their beliefs and opinions. However, they are not regulated, and they have the ability to say just about anything without thinking of the consequences. Such a capability will have a negative impact in the future when one looks up your online presence or past posting on social media.
We form our online presence from the kind of posts and comments we make on different platforms on the internet, as well as discussions and forums. When we post these comments, we leave a digital trace that is embedded with our names as well as a times stamp as to when we made the comments or uploaded a post. Thus, when we search our names on different internet search engines, we are able to find our names and the posts we have been involved in or commented on. I was able to search my name and google address on Google to find the kind of online image I have. I was satisfied with the results because I am not a social media enthusiast who likes posting or commenting on posts or participating in various forums. Also, I enjoy Instagram, but I rarely post pictures; thus, it was difficult to find my Instagram page or my photos. If I were to look for a candidate to intern, I would hire myself because I do not have a negative online presence that would affect the company’s image or reputation. Therefore, I believe that employers should do online background research of a potential candidate to check on the kind of an employee they could be or whether they are manageable or not. In addition to this, the search would help identify if they are affiliated with opinionated groups that do not respect other religions, race, and support gender equality. The search would be relevant because it would help an employer employ someone whose online image will not hurt the company.
As young adults, many students pursuing their university degrees spend most of their time on the internet, especially on social media platforms. In these platforms, they are given opportunities to join in on forums that discuss social issues that face society and also other forums that seek to slow down the progress of change in society. Sometimes we may not be aware of which of the two forums we are participating in, and sometimes we take part in discussions that will affect our chances of employment or relationships that we hope to form in the future. Additionally, we are pressured by what we see our friends post on social media that we exaggerate on our profiles such that we tend to write negative things that will make us appear “cool” in front of our friends. For example, in the short description given, the promising candidate had exaggerated on his Facebook profile, and this cost him a chance to an internship, which would have a positive influence on his professional career. Furthermore, after we post our comments and update our profiles, people will read them and form an opinion of who we are. Thus, even after deleting them, I believe the people who saw them will not change their opinion towards us because the damage has already been done.