Guess what I found on your Facebook profile? |
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This week, we delve into why and how you should be actively managing your online presence. Indeed, EVERYTHING put online is in the public domain.
We certainly don't advocate avoiding social media, but do believe that you should actively manage your presence to ensure it reflects the perception of you that you want to put out into the world!
The 100 Week Sprint team
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Got 30 minutes? Get a professional photo taken for your LinkedIn profile picture. Note: Dressing up helps create a good headshot!
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Got an hour? Do the thorough Google search to see what's available about you.
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Who is checking you out online?
Once you start school, you'll be connecting with new classmates. You can count on making new connections in-person (timing will depend on your school) and online, which means that you're opening up past posts to your new connections. After making a great impression, don't forget that once you're connected, they may be able to learn more about you than you're comfortable with.
There are also people who want to figure out how to get to the top schools who may be digging into your profile for information.
Poets and Quants, for example, has made a habit of piecing together the makeup of various MBA classes based on what people report on LinkedIn and Facebook. While that should not prevent you from sharing information, be thoughtful about what you include on your profile.
Don't assume that keeping your profile private will ensure that the information you've posted will not become public. Consider the case of the UPenn Admissions officer who lost her job after mocking applicants' essays on her Facebook page. The Dean of Admissions became aware of the issue when a "friend" sent him screenshots of her comments.
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Five-minute social media fixes
Cleaning up your social media presence shouldn't take long, but it's worth doing. Even if you want to leave your social media profiles public, do a quick check on what's out there, and whether or not you'd be comfortable with your classmates, colleagues, or future employers looking at them!
General
- Google yourself and check the search results for web, images, news, and videos.
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Create a Google Alert for your name.
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List the top 3 subjects that you post about on each of your social media profiles. If they don't fit with your personal brand, remove or hide the posts.
- Have different profiles using the same name? Google your username(s) to see if you have any accounts with information you'd want to make private.
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Consider a background check.
Facebook
- Review your Facebook cover photos - your current photo will always be public (and there's no way to change that), but you can adjust the privacy settings on your inactive cover photos.
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Review your profile picture (since it's public unless you decide to change the audience).
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Create custom lists so that posts will only be shared with selected groups. That way, after you add new connections, you can still limit your posts.
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Check what you've been tagged in. Facebook allows you to directly remove your tags but even then, that doesn't mean the original posts have disappeared! Contact the person directly to ask them to ask them to remove the photo or post.
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Limit old posts on your timeline (if you choose to do so). Click here for a how-to.
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Want to make your friends list private? Click here for a tutorial.
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Want to make your "likes" private? Click here for a tutorial.
LinkedIn
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Customize your LinkedIn URL if you haven't already. This makes your link look much more polished when sending it out to others.
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Review what's public on your LinkedIn profile (since networking contacts most likely search for you there). The default settings make most of your profile publicly available. You have the option to update your profile's visibility settings here.
- For your LinkedIn profile picture, make sure you're looking straight ahead, your head isn't tilted, and there aren't other distractions in the background.
Twitter
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Check your mentions to see if there any any posts that ought to be removed. If so, contact the original poster and remove the tweet.
- Review your tweets which display content from other profiles (such as Instagram), since viewers can find your other accounts easily that way.
Since things change quickly, set a reminder to schedule a quarterly social media check, especially after some of the events you may attend this fall!
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Wellness Break
We are happier when our minds aren’t wandering and we are in the present moment, but 47% of the time we are not present. By being in the present moment, rather than thinking in the past or the future, you can replace the time you usually spend on overthinking the future with simply being here right now. A few tips to stay present:
- Set the tone for your day by not checking your phone, email, notifications etc. first thing in the morning.
- Stop multi-tasking; focus on one thing at a time, not only when it comes to work.
- Count your breaths. When you feel your mind start to wander, you can re-focus almost immediately by bringing your attention to your breath- even just 10 seconds will help bring you back to the present.
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Missed a week or two? Click here for our article archives. Class of 2024 password: MBA2024
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