The college admission or job search process can be stressful, with lengthy online applications, perfecting a resume and cover letter, test scores and balancing life with academics or work. With the rise of social media and phone usage, a digital footprint can also introduce another layer of concern, especially when college admission officers and employers might view your teen’s social profiles.
The line “once you post something online, it’s there forever” is a common lesson for students when they first download social media or gain access to a phone. But what does this mean for your teen’s future jobs and college applications, and how can their online presence affect their chances of success?
What Is a Digital Footprint?
As your teen spends more time on popular social media platforms like Snapchat, their digital footprint continues to accumulate.
A digital footprint, according to the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, is a trail of data that is left behind when using the internet. This includes visited websites, emails sent and any information downloaded, as well as communication sent through social media, like direct messages, shared photos and content interacted with.
The most common forms of digital footprint your teen is likely to leave are through social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. This could look like photos and videos posted to stories or main pages, comments, content liked, reposts and following lists.
Can Colleges See Your Teen’s Digital Footprint – and Does It Matter?
Research shows that your teen’s digital footprint, especially on social media, might actually impact their chances of getting into a specific university.
According to a 2021 Kaplan survey from college admission officers, 36% of about 300 officers said they checked applicants’ social media pages, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, to better understand them as a person.
Of this 36%, 38% of the officers said that the social media they saw had a positive impact on their perspective of the student, yet 57% said it had a negative impact. 66% of officers stated that social media was “fair game” to view, as stated in an article from Inside Higher Ed.
This means that if your child has a public social media account, their content is visible to anyone who searches their name, whether it is employers, college admissions officers or strangers.
Will Employers Review Your Teen’s Social Media Before Hiring?
Studies show that potential employers are highly likely to check your teen’s social media pages before hiring them.
According to a survey by CareerBuilder, 70% of over 1,000 hiring managers and human resources professionals in the private sector researched job candidates on social media, and 575 of them found content that led them not to hire a candidate.
The survey also showed that 47% of employers were less likely to call a candidate for an interview if they could not find their social media profile. Reasons for checking social media included finding supporting job qualifications, what people said about the candidate and any negative reasons to not hire them, as stated by Staffing Industry Analysts.
As your child dives deeper into Snapchat, the thrill of commenting on their friend’s posts, creating their own content on Instagram and reposting TikToks, ask them to consider if they would be okay with an employer or you seeing it. The truth is, if they do not want you to see it, an employer or admissions officer would most likely not think highly of them after seeing it. That one social media post or comment is not worth the risk of losing a desired lifelong career or position.
