Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. – Weaned on social media and plenty of scandal supplied by public figures, the younger generations may become very private individuals. Politicians transmit personal data over the internet that most 14 year-olds know would get them in trouble.
Then we add prospective employers combing the internet to the mix, and what we have is the shifting of social media into business media. So cover your tattoos and hide that PBR can: a recruiter may be watching.
The transition should not shock many. After all, how people present themselves on social media should never be perceived as a dynamic representation. The medium allows for a two-dimensional sketch of who or what one wants to be on that day. Interests and photos are subject to change in order to perfect a manufactured online identity.
Most hurt by such developments should be the people given to turning every interaction into a photo-op. You’re at the pub with some friends, the conversation flows with the whiskey, and then someone turns a perfectly organic evening into a plastic experience by forcing photos. Out come the peace signs, the hats mysteriously go sideways, and much chest puffery transpires.
Employers snooping around the internet should not inspire the thought that their is no separation of business and social life. I say this because social media does not equal social life. If anything, the social life may finally be left alone from business. The practice of a reconnaissance check on candidates is nothing too recent. This should give pause to anyone wanting to post a live stream of a body shot session.
The younger generations are learning from their forebears’ mistakes. Such is the point of transmitted wisdom. It is with great gladness that I witness a people who profit by others’ misfortune, rather than a people who repeat the same misfortune.
Image Source: Petraeus.
