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Running Head: THE RISK BEFORE THE CLICK 1

Assessing the Risk before the Click:


How to have Good Etiquette and Judgement on Social Media
Nicholas Sillari
Stockton University

GEN2243
Prof. Calderwood
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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

and better judgment online.


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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.

Learn from Others

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).

The Risks & Repercussions

Following Geftman-Golds derogatory remarks toward the horrific Vegas shooting

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

media and be proactive before they click.

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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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

can succeed without having to worry about repercussions in the future.


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References

Feris, M.& Moore, K. (2016). Emerging scholars and social media use: A pilot study of risk.

Communication Design Quarterly. 53-55.

Flood, B. (2017). CBS fires vice president who said Vegas victims didn't deserve sympathy

because country music fans 'often are Republican'. Fox News.

Hui, M. (2017). CBS fires VP for writing Republican gun toters killed in Las Vegas dont

deserve sympathy. The Washington Post.

Perrin, A. (2015). Social media usage: 2005-2015. Pew Research Center.

Ricciardella, W. (2017). CBS legal exec: no sympathy for Vegas because country music fans

are often Republican. The Daily Caller.

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