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GEN2243
Prof. Calderwood
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THE RISK BEFORE THE CLICK
Abstract
In todays age getting information out to others can be done nearly instantly with the tool
of smartphones, the internet and most importantly social media. With growing numbers of young
adults using social media many times people will post without regret or without thinking at all.
Every time we post anything on any social media platform, we are open to nearly the entire
world with easy tractability and instant response time. This may not seem like an issue to the
naked eye but in this paper, we will focus on how sometimes a negligent post on social media
can have serious repercussions, what steps to take to prevent poor social media etiquette, and
how to draw the line between professional and personal content on social media. The
incorporation of real world examples such as Haley Geftman-Gold, who has recently gotten
much attention on a Facebook post, will help us learn from others mistakes, understand the
possible risks, and find new ways to manage your social media profiles to ensure proper etiquette
Introduction
Social media at its core is a tool that uses the internet for mass communication for anyone
to see. However, since most of these social media platforms were established in the last decade
or so, there is no etiquette or code of conduct for everyone to follow, so everything is based off
your own discretion. This is both a good and bad thing because it is easy to follow suit with your
peers and post what you would want them to see and not what your grandma would want to see.
The divide between personal and professionalism is a ridged line that many times overlaps and
can have major repercussions in the future from what most would say was a mistake. A recent
survey on social media use from Texas Tech University, (Faris & Moore, 2016) found that out of
419 participants in a survey, 69 percent (286 participants) said that they characterize their social
media use for both professional and personal use. Having a single social media account for both
professional and personal use is a see-saw effect that can make people not think of the risk
before they click. If you do choose to have one account for personal/professional use, there must
be a linear rhetoric, professional grammar, and relatable topics that future coworker and
employers can relate to and not be drawn away from. When you are about to post something
online, on any platform, you should always be proactive in deciding what is appropriate and not
appropriate to be showing future managers or bosses; you should always know who and how big
your audience is online, checking your privacy settings is a good to get an idea on who can see
your posts.
In the last decade or so we have seen a steady increase in social media use by young job
hunters and adults. According to a recent study in 2015 by Pew Research Center, 90 percent of
young adults, ages 18-29, use social media compared to 12 percent back in 2005, a 78
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percentage-increase (Perrin, 2015, p.). With young adults dominating the growing usage of social
media, there is a good chance that most of these young adults can be searched on the web and
give general information such as employment, past employment, appearance, general location,
etc. This means that at any point in your life what you post on any social media platform,
whatever it may be, is attached to your name almost as if it was a personal record. This is
sometimes referred to as your digital footprint. Even though people know this, there are many
instances where people are in the heat of the moment and are negligent on their postings and do
not asses any risks. An example of this happened just recently where a senior level employee
was fired because of a careless post. On October 2nd, 2017, in the wake of the most tragic and
deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S history, Haley Geftman-Gold decided to post on
Facebook her thoughts on the incident; If they wouldnt do anything when children were
murdered I have no hope that Repugs will ever do the right thing, wrote Geftman-Gold on
Facebook, perhaps referring to Sandy Hook. Im actually not even sympathetic bc country
music fans often are Republican gun toters (Ricciardella, 2017). Geftman-Golds post on
Facebook started to attract much attention on the internet until it blew up and landed on national
news. Even though Geftman-Gold has deleted the post because it is the internet, many
screenshots of the post and her profile are all over the media along. It was later found that she is
a top legal executive at CBS in New York, which got the attention of her upper management.
(Ricciardella, 2017).
incident, there was a colossal backlash from social media and her administrators. After The Daily
Callers first reporting of the incident, CBS has fired Haley has fired from her position as a
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Senior Legal Counsel and vice president at CBS. Her supervisors had stated that her comments
were offensive and deeply unacceptable (Ricciardella, 2017). Along with this, many social
media users have attacked and harassed not only Haley herself, but her family members and
friends as well, as a counteraction from her offensive commentary. People have been sending her
death threats and other hateful remarks following their initial reactions to the post. A CBS
spokeswoman told Fox news that Geftman-Gold, who was with us for approximately one year,
violated the standards of our company and is no longer an employee of CBS (Flood 2017).
Haley, someone who works in the media field and should know how this might affect her, she
did not asses any risks, making her unprofessional and unsympathetic comments on the
circumstance as it was detrimental to not only her reputation, but her company and her
administrators as well. Her authorities did the proper thing by dismissing her from the company
immediately. Perusing the attention Geftman-Gold received, she did post an apology for her
shameful posts; Earlier today I posted an indefensible post in a Facebook discussion thread
concerning the tragic Las Vegas shooting, a statement I sincerely regret (Hui, 2017). Although
Hayley did do the right thing and apologize, she is now without a job because of her posting.
Putting myself in the administrators situation would arise a lot more questions pertaining other
employees and how to monitor their social media accounts to prevent a similar situation from
happing again. I would suggest for ALL companies, especially for young professionals who
recently started job hunting, to inform and educate employees on how to properly use social
Conclusion
Technology today has given us many tools to find data, connect with others, and share
content via social media. However, with the growing number of young adults using social media
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THE RISK BEFORE THE CLICK
platforms poses a big risk when job hunting or for own safety. Being proactive in setting up
privacy settings and filtering what content you post can help you look more professional and
assure that you wont end up on national news stations for a negligent or inappropriate post. We
can learn from others such as Hayley Geftman-Gold who we talked about and how she could
have avoided a situation that costed her a high up job position with a well-known company.
Assessing all risks before posting or getting involved in a controversial conversation, think how
your digital footprint can be traced, and ask yourself if youre ok with your grandma seeing what
you post. Social media doesnt need to be a constant worry if someone is lurking on your profile
looking for things to criticize you for, you can use social media for both personal and
professional with the right mindset and context. Connecting with other professionals is nearly a
necessity if youre looking for a job or any profession. Looking at your profile can give you an
idea on how professional and how personal you are right now, by scrolling through your profile
and judging each post. Making the line between personal and professional can be a bit difficult at
times but with the right context, forward, proactive thinking, and knowing your audience, you
References
Feris, M.& Moore, K. (2016). Emerging scholars and social media use: A pilot study of risk.
Flood, B. (2017). CBS fires vice president who said Vegas victims didn't deserve sympathy
Hui, M. (2017). CBS fires VP for writing Republican gun toters killed in Las Vegas dont
Ricciardella, W. (2017). CBS legal exec: no sympathy for Vegas because country music fans