Author: dreydenp

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The Process of Hiring in New Age Social Media

One of the most important intersections between social media and employment is in the hiring process. It is here where there are great risks and rewards. Employers can use social media in two ways when hiring: to recruit candidates by publicly posting job openings and to do background checks to confirm a candidate’s qualifications for a position.

Before applying for a job you should make sure to keep your social media accounts somewhat professional. It is highly suggested to not delete everything you feel isn’t professional off your social media as that can cause some red flags for employers.

Photo Credit – Togglhire

Every country has their own guidelines on what is legal when it comes to accessing applicant information during the hiring process. Depending on the country/province/state, it can be illegal to look up a candidate’s gender, age, race, religion, sexuality and plenty of other bits of information.

According to a 2018 CareerBuilder survey, 70% of employers use social media to screen candidates during the hiring process, and about 43% of employers use social media to check on current employees. (Driver,2021)

About 47% of employers said they wouldn’t call a person for an interview if they can’t find them on social media. More than a quarter of employers say it’s because they like to gather more information before calling in a potential candidate, and 20% say it’s because they expect candidates to have an online presence.

 According to research by CareerBuilder from August 2018, here is what employers primarily look for when screening candidates on social media:

  • 58% – information that supports their job qualifications
  • 50% – if the candidate has a professional online persona
  • 34% – what others are saying about the candidate
  • 22% – reasons not to hire the candidate.

What are your thoughts of the hiring process with social media these days?

Twitter – Social Media Hiring #TheDosAndDonts https://bit.ly/3EGaxIP

Facebook – The Hiring Process in New Age Social Media https://bit.ly/3EGaxIP

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The Influence of Crime on Social Media

Social media has become a very important tool for police investigation. For example, they can use direct messages between parties, they can post video evidence to the public to ask for assistance or they can search for posts that may contain clues to an investigation.

“Six Winnipeggers are facing drug and weapons-related charges after a recent social media video prompted an investigation”

While social media can be of great help for solving criminal investigations, it can also be useful for the criminals. With everyone posting where they are on vacation or posting about the fancy items they have in their house, that can potentially helps criminals target their victims.

Photo Credit – EEZLaw

Not only does social media influence physical crime it also has a huge role on cyber crime. Cyber crime has grown immensely over the past decade, some of the most common cyber crimes consist of: identity theft, cyberbullying, stalking, threatening and personal information breaches.

In 2019, social media crimes statistics showed a whopping 4.1 billion records were compromised. As shocking as the figure is, what is even more mind-boggling is that these figures only reflect breaches occurring in the first half of 2019. By the end of 2019, this figure more than doubled to reach 9.6 billion.

(Lazic,2021)

I believe the content that gets posted on social media affects how the younger audience perceives reality. Some may think what they see online is really what happens in real life and they try to replicate that.

“In 2013, a 16 year old boy in Ottawa, Canada was arrested for making bomb threats to schools across North America. While this type of crime is now not particularly uncommon, what is different is the way in which he was caught; his extensive bragging about his anonymous phone calls on Twitter eventually brought the police to his door” (Surette,2016)

Do you think social media plays a role in physical and or cyber crime?

Twitter – Social Media Made Me Do It #CrimeInSocialMedia https://bit.ly/3d9xwzP

Facebook – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly of Social Media https://bit.ly/3d9xwzP

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Addicted to Social Media?

While social media can be a great took to keep in contact with old fiends, new friends, family members and connect with new people, it can also be a very bad habit to break. Social media can not only have a toll on your physical health but your mental health as well.

It seems pretty crazy but it is a real thing, social media addiction. Can social media really be that bad? For many of us the first thing we do when we wake up is check our mobile device, open Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat. When we are bored or waiting in line at a store we open up social media to see what’s going on.

Photo Credit – Meghan Salsbury

What causes social media addiction?

Social media addiction can be caused by many things such as lack of social life, fear of missing out and unrealistic expectations. You see some people living a fancy life on social media which then makes you think you should be living the same life. In most cases that will keep you going back to their accounts pretty frequently. You see your friends going out on the weekend posting on their story while you get stuck working, that can also suck you back into going on social media.

“Research carried out by the Chicago Booth School of Business already indicated five years ago that Facebook, Twitter and other social media can be more addictive than tobacco and alcohol because, among other things, access to them is simple and free”.

(Iberdrola, 2021)
Photo Credit – Influencer Marketing Hub

Social Media Addiction Statistics

  • Estimates suggest that more than 210 million people worldwide suffer from addiction to social media and the internet.
  • Symptoms of depression are twice as likely to appear in teens who spend more than 5 hours a day on their smartphones.
  • Not being on social media causes the fear of missing out in 34% of young adults.
  • Checking social media while driving happens to 50% of drivers.
  • A massive 43% of teenagers feel bad if no one likes their post.
  • 74% of all Americans log in to check their Facebook on a daily basis.

(Maya ,2021)

Twitter – Addicted to Social Media https://bit.ly/3np8C5e

Facebook – The Addiction You Never Knew You Had https://bit.ly/3np8C5e

Ref: https://truelist.co/blog/social-media-addiction-statistics/

https://www.iberdrola.com/social-commitment/impact-social-media-youth

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The Internet Apocalypse?

Imagine waking up to no internet, no social media, no electronic communications. Our ATM machines, airplane GPS systems and all electronics are failing. Do you think we could survive in todays day during a solar flare?

Most people, including myself think…what the heck is a solar flare?

I’m sure many of you have seen articles and posts about the 2021 solar flare. So, what is a solar flare? What causes one? What affect does that have on social media?

What is a solar flare?

“The magnetic field lines near sunspots often tangle, cross, and reorganize. This can cause a sudden explosion of energy called a solar flare. Solar flares release a lot of radiation into space. If a solar flare is very intense, the radiation it releases can interfere with our radio communications here on Earth” (Erickson, 2021).

https://go.nasa.gov/3BY4ahJ
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this imagery of a solar flare, as seen in the bright flash. A loop of solar material, a coronal mass ejection (CME), can also be seen rising up off the right limb of the Sun. Image credit: NASA/SDO/Goddard

Are we Ready?

While the world underwent a global pandemic over the past couple years it seemed as though we were unprepared. While not having much information on the virus, we didn’t have many protocols or rules to follow off the bat. Solar flares also do not happen very often which means we do not have a lot of information about them, do you think we will be prepared for the next solar flare?

Personally, I don’t think we could live in todays day during a solar flare. We rely on our electronics so much in every day life that I believe we would be lost without them. While we lose power to electronics that means we also lose our access to social media. With social media not being accessible, would business’s and content creators be able to make money to live? Would we return back to the olden days when social media and the internet were almost non existent?

Twitter – The end of social media as we know it? #EndOfItAll https://bit.ly/3ojJtZ8

Facebook – Are we prepared for an internet apocalypse? https://bit.ly/3ojJtZ8