Social Networking Sites : Career Services : Bridgewater State University

Social Networking Sites

Creating and Protecting Your "Digital Image"

Social Networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace are a part of many student's and alumni's everyday life. With all the recent coverage in the media about these tools, Career Services wants to address some of the concerns, share some helpful information and show you how to protect yourself online.

Jill Wesley of Indiana Business College discusses the importance of creating a "Personal Internet Presence", which is the online presence that you create through your own personal websites, blogs, etc. but also those of other people. Electronic information about yourself can easily be found online utilizing search engines such as Google, simple searches on blog pages and social networking websites. It is important to keep this in mind and be aware of the need to check up on and maintain your online presence especially during your internship or job search. Some employers may try to look up information about you as a means of screening applicants, so you need to be vigilant.

The PowerPoint presentation and handout that you can find below have information about how to protect and maintain your "Digital Image". This information is intended to be informative and helpful, not to necessarily discourage use of these websites. As with anything in life, you just need to be responsible about your usage and the way you present yourself.