The idea that your online reputation could impact your college career is not a new one. Vanessa Van Petten, of RadicalParenting.com, says when she was a student tour guide at Emory University in Atlanta, she would friend visitors on the campus tour in order to review their social networking pages for the admissions office. And that was in 2007! As the years go by, this practice of checking on your digital dossier becomes increasingly common.
We’ve heard of teens who have posted photos or comments online and lost scholarships, or had potential roommates reject them, all due to poor judgment in their social network. I recently saw an article about how to alter photos showing a person drinking so it appears “innocent.” This web meme shows how to insert photos of cats instead of bottles of beer. That’s pretty clever, but wouldn’t it be better to keep those photos offline to begin with? And speaking as a mom of two teens, why would you take those photos at all?
Clearly, most teens have received the message that, with some effort, they can prevent their teen capers from derailing their future. As high school students enter their sophomore year, more and more of them begin engaging in strategies to limit their exposure or moderate their postings. Some deactivate their social networking accounts when they think adults might be looking for them, such as when they are looking for summer jobs or applying to schools. Others use nicknames and stay off of their school’s social network so they are hard to trace. Or they use the privacy settings to be as anonymous online as possible. I know when my oldest child began researching colleges, she started cleaning up or “curating” her social network account in anticipation that college admissions’ staff might soon be looking her up online.
In addition to keeping private messages, photos and comments away from strangers and admissions officers, some teens are working to improve what turns up about them in a web search. They create videos about their hobbies, making sure their sports achievements are easy to validate and their dramatic turn in the school play can be viewed. My son’s recent appearance in a school play was written up but you can’t be sure the school newspaper is online unless you check. I can help him by scanning the article and posting it online myself. Make sure you or your child tag material with your name and the name of your school so it shows up in web searches. By posting positive images or material that reinforces what is on their college application, students can ensure there is no doubt about their hard work and accomplishments.
Quick tips for positive posting for high school kids:
- “Friend” your parents in your social networks. They want you to anyway and their presence helps you keep things “PG” and deters your friends from tagging you in the wrong sort of photos. It’s pretty easy to say “take that down, my mom freaked out” even if it’s only you who were concerned.
- Stop posting every photo you take. Start “curating” your online albums to present the best “you” possible.
- Use privacy settings to limit who can see what you are doing. Keep checking on how privacy settings work (they change!) and use the preview mode to see what a stranger can learn about you. Note that little arrow on your social network’s status box allows you to customize who sees your post. You may not realize it but the last setting you chose (“public, friends, custom, etc”) remains the default until you select something else.
- Do frequent web searches on your name. If it’s a common name, add details such as your school’s name to see what turns up about you. Anything bad? Or anything your grandmother might be shocked by? Try to get it taken down now or be prepared to discuss it in a college interview.
- If anything you believe to be significant about you is missing from an online search, work now to beef up your digital resume. Using online photo sites, your social network, tagging yourself in online content, can all be good strategies to ensure what turns up about you is representative, flattering and complete.
Don’t panic. You can still be online and enjoy your friendships throughout your senior year of high school. Keep these tips in mind and you should be in good shape for a great college career.
