When I was in school, I recall snapping a picture with an animal tongue filter on Snapchat and used it as my display picture. My dad saw this picture and was mad at me. He asked me to delete the picture and never post such picture again on social media. I didn’t just see the sense in that, even after explaining to me that the image I was portraying to the world isn’t my real identity, and that these images can affect me in the future. I thought he was just making a mountain out of a mole hill, but I obeyed for obedience’s sake. However, with the passage of time, I have come to see sense in what my dad was trying to teach me. In the world today, people, especially young ones, goof on social media without knowing that there are consequences to their actions. They share immoral images of themselves in the name of being woke and trendy. They abuse people who do not share the same opinion with them on matters, and they are ready to even fight and rain curses on fellow social media users for petty reasons like not liking the same celebrity as them. When I see such goofing, my heart bleeds. I agree that not many people have a proper orientation especially when it comes to social media usage. They operate with the mindset that they own their phones and subscribe for themselves; hence, they have the right to do as they please. To them, it’s all jokes and games. But that is not true. Recently in 2022, a Ghanian actress, by name, Yvonne Nelson tweeted about a young man that came for a job interview and along the line of the interview, she inquired for the young man’s Twitter handle, and it appears she had blocked him on her page due to his negative comment in the past. Same thing happened in 2022 to another young man who lost a banking job because he had dragged and trolled that bank in the past. Never did they thought for once that time will come when their juvenile delinquencies will deny them something good in life. Social media, in many ways, has replaced the traditional CV or resume. Several social media sites now enable employees to conduct in-depth background checks on their applicant profiles, and according to research, about 51 of these public posts that people put out there, are used to determine whether a candidate is qualified for a job role or not and if the individual’s social media activities match the company’s code of conduct. Social media has equally become a marketplace where people can trade equally, build brands, get jobs, and start businesses. There is someone or people watching you that may have the power to change your status and life forever. But the question is, what do they see when they conduct background check on your social media activities? What kind of person are you telling them you are? What image are you portraying about yourself? When people google your name, what will they see? Social media is not all about the beautiful selfies, the banters, and the jokes. Times have changed now. The era of getting a job solely on your overwhelming credentials and impressive answers during interview is gone. Social media is now the new CV. Trade with caution, young ones.
