Blog #3-"When Did That Happen?"- A Personal Glimpse Into My Online Rep

I can laugh a little at myself for the silly and, by times, down right stupid things I have done in my early adult life. I can also hope that nobody else remembers some of those silly things as some, if I am honest, could be somewhat detrimental to my reputation professionally. Furthermore, I am so thankful that at those times not everyone and their dog was holding an unbelievably powerful 14 pixel cell phone camera; a camera in a person's  palm, ready to instantaneously project a questionable image on everyone else's beautifully backlit computer screen for their Sunday afternoon tea time viewing pleasure. Alas, after having moved to Korea, this type of thing has become a little more difficult to avoid.  

How many times have we been in situations where a potentially embarrassing  photo(or worse a video) had been taken by someone on their phone and the next day you got a pop-up message saying 'so and so' posted a photo of you on 'such and such'?-Probably more than once. If you're like me, you may have sometimes said things to yourself like, "I am never going out again.", or perhaps, "When the(insert curse word of choice)did I do that?" While not every posted photo I see of myself is completely dignity shattering or cause for a complete emotional meltdown, there have been times where I have wished I could delete a particular snapshot. Unfortunately, that is often easier said than done. 

So what can one do to avoid these situations? Well, while it used to be true that what you did outside of work was your own business, it is unfortunately not the case in this seemingly more 'big brother' type of world we are living in. Anybody can take a pic of you at your worst, and have it displayed on social media for all to see, including present and future potential employers. What employer needs to look at a resume when he or she can simply search a name and instantly find any social media tags attached to it. Any reputation destroying footage will almost surely deter that employer from digging deeper and having a look at a person's credentials on paper. So, should we just stay home? I say, "No." However, I would  simply suggest, to others and absolutely to myself, a few things to help modify the potentially regrettable outcome of a big night out captured on Instagram: 

#1-Plan ahead. Try to make concrete decisions and plans, for the course and end of the night, prior to venturing off to a bar or club with friends or co-workers. 

#2-Turn it down a notch or two. Try to be more aware of your actions. It's not necessary to get aggressive with someone, to always be the one dancing on a table, or to do ANOTHER shot with that person you just met. 

#3-Keep the shutters closed. One might consider asking their friends to not take lots of pictures-or at least ask permission before doing so. Furthermore, while you may not remember every little detail of the night, sometimes a group photo taken early in the eve is enough to know that everyone went out and had a good time together.  

#4-Finally change your privacy settings. These days there are ways to eliminate some of the privacy issues we can encounter without having to completely change our name or disable our accounts with a particular social media.

Even if it takes a little back pedaling to get my social media pics in order, I hope I can at least begin walking on the path to enlightenment when it comes to keeping my digital footprint in check.

I am not sure why the title of this song comes to mind, but just for fun, here's an old Canadian band rockin' their catchy tune, "She Ain't Pretty".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG3ExHB133k

Thanks for reading,

Brodie