On one good afternoon I was perusing through Quora looking for accounts to follow to gain insights. At that time I was very keen on leaving the country and was desperate for any information that would take me closer to my goal. Due to that, I followed threads where questions about such were asked. This particular day, I saw a thread that piqued my interest.
An African dude was offered admission into a university in the United States for postgraduate studies, with full funding. Having paid his SEVIS and Visa fees, he was invited for a visa interview that serves as a precursor to having his visa granted. Unfortunately, he was denied. The bewildered dude came online to ask what criteria visa officers use to decide who they will grant or deny their visa.
His question led to answers that were more of assumptions and suggestions than facts. The thread was that boring until I saw a comprehensive answer that startled me. The answer was so detailed that I had to check the profile of the person giving the answer. His profile shows him to be a retired visa officer with over 10 years experience. His station while in active duty? Nigeria.
As I read through the myriads of reasons he gave for denying visas, the last one was the one that resonates the most with the topic of discussion for this episode. He queried, "What do you think we are looking at in the computer right in front of us as we interview you?"
Social media has gone way beyond an object of fun. And, yes, the world has shifted to acknowledge the correlation between social media and professionalism so much that people now employ social media managers to help with their accounts. Most of your favourite celebs are paying a serious amount of money to others to help them to connect with their supporters.
About some years back a dude was employed by Barcelona Football Club, one of the biggest sports establishments in the world. He was so happy that he shared the wonderful news on social media. Three days later, he was out of the job. He didn't even get to start because someone posted a disparaging tweet the guy made about his new employers some 10 years back. Barcelona's hierarchy called him and told him not to even bother to start work.
I've always been very conscious about what I post online that can be traced back to me since I realized its possible effects a long time ago. So, I'll never be bothered about sharing my social media accounts. In fact, a lot of online applications these days come with spaces to provide addresses to social media accounts.
The last job I applied to demanded links to my Facebook, X and LinkedIn accounts. I didn't hesitate to give it out because I know they will never find anything implicating in it because I've always been careful about these things. Some will even go as far as demanding for access to Instagram accounts.
Conclusively, as much as we can argue that demanding access to social media accounts is more or less a breach of privacy, the fact remains that employers have to protect the image of their organization. One of the most effective ways to do so is to make background checks on their potential employees. Where better to make those checks than the social media where people lose themselves and let the animals in them out?
