Your Future is in the Hands of Facebook

Your Future

is in the
Hands of

Remember when you thought it was cool to post pictures on Facebook of you and all your friends with red cups in your hands? Sure, it was cool when you were 16 maybe 17 years old, but what’s not cool is the effect it could have on your future.

High School students post pictures and statuses on Facebook every single day. What you probably don’t know about this is that today (yes, this very day), more than 80% of all colleges use social media as a form of recruitment. Not only is it scary that colleges use Facebook, but more than half of schools actually use it in their decision process.

You would think that they wouldn’t look at your page out of all the applicants that they have, but some admissions officers said they had rejected students because of material on the sites. You may think that your pictures are harmless, but a teenagers opinion is different than somebody who is reviewing your college application. Colleges take things more seriously than high-schoolers do because potentially, you are the one that is going to be representing their school.

According to a recent Kaplan Test Prep survey of 350 admissions officers, more than 25 percent of school officials said they had looked up applicants on Facebook or Google. Anna Redmond, a 30-year-old former interviewer for Harvard University who blogs about college admissions, says that she started regularly googling prospective students years ago. She says that she would find posts of applicants complaining, and sometimes even pictures of underage drinking.

Once this information started spreading about how college admissions check your Facebook page, high-schoolers started deleting their profiles. A senior from BASIS Scottsdale in Arizona, Abigail Swift, deleted her Facebook page at the start of junior year when she was beginning her college search. “I don’t want what I put on my Facebook or what I don’t put on my Facebook to sway their opinion of me,” she says, “I just don’t think it’s fair for them to base acceptance on that.” Many students agree with Abigail and are starting to either delete their profiles, or change their names on Facebook so they cannot be found.

Colleges' recent interest in social-networking sites is leading many aspiring students to take a hard look at their online habits and in some cases to remove or change postings. It is good that colleges have been looking at Facebook profiles because it teaches high school students to be more aware of what they post online for others to see.

Don't Drop The Ball

Don’t Drop The Ball

Click, send, and pray.  Pray that no one sees your stupid picture or tweet.  Unfortunately everyone will see it.  Just hope your coach isn’t everyone.  Social Media is a very powerful tool, and can be very positive and negative.  It is silly to think Coaches, High Schools, Universities, or Professional Teams and Clubs don’t check Social Media.  

SOCIAL MEDIA SITES INCLUDE BUT NOT LIMITED TO:

Twitter, Facebook, Buzznet, Formspring

Instagram, Myspace, Flickr

Athletes need to be smarter than the average joe because they are under more of a microscope.  Athletes represent more than just themselves, they represent the very High School or University etc. that cheer for them every game.  Do you want to let all of them down?  One picture or tweet can jeopardize an athlete’s entire athletic career and reputation.

EXPERIENCE

I know from experience what can happen when Social Media is used negatively.  A buddy from my High School played football with me my junior year.  One night he was stupid and took a picture of himself funneling beer at a party..  Soon after my coach found out and he was kicked off the team, alienated, and viewed as a traitor.  One picture, one mistake, is all it takes.

DON’T LET IT BE YOU

Everyone has the mindset of “Oh it won’t happen to me,” or “Coach isn’t going to see it,” and take that risk.  Sure you may get away with it one maybe two times.  You’re the man now.  Enjoy it while it last because at any time everything could be taken away.  All that hard work and preparation...Gone.  Athletes need to realize there is a certain swagger and attention brought upon them.  Sometimes self-inflicted, sometimes unwanted.  It can be tough at times as an athlete to get used to the spotlight and attention, however, Social Media cannot be the reason for the attention.

WRAP-UP

Handle your business on the field and stay smart socially.  The repercussions of abusing Social Media are extremely serious.  Fines, Suspensions, or Complete removal from a team are all realistic punishments.  Athletes are given gifts of athletic ability.  It would be a shame to see that obliterated over some stupid picture at a party.  Social Media can be fun and very positive, don’t abuse it.

FACTS ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA

• In February 2012, 20% of 18-24 year old Student-Athletes were using Twitter on a typical day.  Just one year later, 72% of Student-Athletes have a Twitter account

• Of a random survey taken 93.5% of student-athletes have a Facebook

• 64.81% have an Instagram

• 23.1% of Student-Athletes with a twitter have tweeted something inappropriate (racial, sexual, violence, profanity, drug/alcohol use)

• 22.3% of Student-Athletes with a Facebook have posted something inappropriate (racial, sexual, violence, profanity, drug/alcohol use)

A Tweet a Day Keeps the Questions Away

As of 2012...

- 40% of people communicate more over social networking rather than face-to-face.

- 91% of smart phones are used for social networking.

- 3,600 photos are uploaded to instagram every minute.

- 100,000 tweets are sent a minute, and 11+ accounts are added each second.

- Over 1 billion Facebook profiles exist.

… So, is it really any surprise that social networking now takes place in much of education? Not many people think so.

http://ow.ly/qUCRO

Of course, as many would agree, when you think of social media being used in an educational setting, you automatically think “Uhm.. now how will that work?” But to much of our surprise, 73% of teachers use social media in their classrooms. With our ever-changing world, comes new ways of learning, experiencing, and teaching. With that, we find social networking playing a new role in education, and also teaching us more personal aspects of each other as well.

With teachers using social media, many students explain that it’s fun, and a much quicker way to communicate. The importance of knowing your students and what their abilities are, has become a strong attribute in education nowadays and with the use of Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and other social networking sites, teachers make this possible.

Trendy, fun, and gets everyone involved.

Penn State Art professor, Anna Divinsky, taught her entire class through social media. After students would create a piece, they would upload their finished product to Flickr, and were able to comment on each others’ creations. Through this, the students were able to see each others’ work, and also connect and share their work socially. By turning Flickr into a class, it  made the class enjoyable and exciting for the students, and also very different from anything they had done before.

So there are benefits?

Although many people are opposed to the idea of social networking being used in a classroom, they are blind to the benefits and positive changes it may bring, which include:

- Learning about our peers

- Receive the answers we need

- Communication

- Getting everyone involved

- Keeping up with the advancing world

With our fast paced lives, it’s important to have what we need at our use whenever we need it. Education no longer exists in just a classroom, and it has truly begun to expand. Instead of shutting down the idea of social media in schools, it’s important that we embrace the idea and welcome the tweets from our teachers and peers. And hey, resolving the stumped homework question you may have has never looked so easy.