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Social Media

You may have a computer, I-pad, cell phone or many other ways to connect to the internet. Our goal is for you to be safe while accessing great information, playing games, doing homework, e-mailing or chatting with friends, etc.

What You Need To Know

NEVER share these things online:

  • Social Security number
  • Birth date
  • Home address
  • Phone number
  • State of birth (which can be used to obtain social security numbers and other identity information)
  • Your location

Try to always be nice online -Treat people the way you’d want to be treated.

Think about what you post – Sharing provocative photos or intimate details online, even in private emails, can cause you problems later- Many things sent can be permanent.

Keep Passwords private – Don’t share your password with anyone, even your friends.

Read between the “lines”, always be careful of who your talking too – It may be fun to check out new people for friendship or romance, but be aware that, while some people are nice, others act nice because they’re trying to get something.

Don’t talk about inappropriate things with strangers – Be cautious when communicating with people you don’t know in person, especially if the conversation starts to be become inappropriate.

Always avoid in-person meetings – The only way someone can physically harm you is if you’re both in the same location, be 100% safe and never meet them in person.

Be smart when using a cellphone – All the same tips apply with phones as with computers.

Sexting: What Parents Need to Know (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Talking to Kids and Teens about Social Media and Sexting (American Academy of Pediatrics)

Cyber bullying is similar to other types of bullying, except it takes place online and through text messages sent to cell phones. Cyberbullies can be classmates, online acquaintances, and even anonymous users, but most often they do know their victims.

If you believe you are the victim cyber bullying, talk to your parent immediately. You and your parent can visit Stopbullying.gov for more information about what to do and tools that can help.

Some examples of ways kids bully online are

  • Sending someone mean or threatening emails, instant messages, or text messages
  • Excluding someone from an instant messenger buddy list or blocking their email for no reason
  • Tricking someone into revealing personal or embarrassing information and sending it to others
  • Breaking into someone’s email or instant message account to send cruel or untrue messages while posing as that person
  • Creating websites to make fun of another person such as a classmate or teacher
  • Using websites to rate peers as prettiest, ugliest, etc.

When cyber bullying happens, it is important to document and report the behavior so it can be addressed.

  • Steps to Take Immediately
  • Report Cyber bullying to Online Service Providers
  • Report Cyber bullying to Law Enforcement
  • Report Cyber bullying to Schools

If you think you are being cyber bullied, please see these resources.

Cyber Tipline 1-800-843-5678 www.cybertipline.com

Crisis Call Center 1-800-273-8255 or text ANSWER to 839863 crisiscallcenter.org

Informational Articles:

Professional Networking

Social media can broaden your professional network, keep you informed, and even land you a job. However, it is important for social workers to be ethically responsible when it comes to putting yourself out on the internet.

There are literally hundreds of sites that you can use for social networking. You may want to start with a few very popular sites.

  • LinkedIn (over 250 million members)
  • Twitter (over 310 million unique monthly users)
  • Facebook (Over 1.1 billion unique monthly users)
  • YouTube (Over 1 billion unique monthly users)

Things to Professionally Consider with Social Media

Search Yourself

Try “Googling” your name. You may find something you’d rather an employer not see. You can contact the site’s owner and ask that it be removed or un-tag yourself.

Organize Your Social Media Accounts

Set your privacy settings so only confirmed friends can review your information.

Top Concerns of Employers
  • Pictures or writing showing drinking and drug use
  • Inappropriate pictures
  • Discriminatory remarks (race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc.)
  • Having unprofessional profile names or screen shots

Accent the Positive and Bury the Negative

Cover up any negative information you may have by crowding it out with positive information. Search engines usually rank their results based on the number of sites that link to those pages. Try starting a professional blog or career-based web portfolio.

  • Make sure your LinkedIn® profile is complete
  • Join online groups related to your career choice and
  • Comment on discussions
  • Keep the new information professional
  • Make sure the pages you want recruiters to see have more links to them than the Pages you’d rather keep hidden.

Be Careful of What You Post

Tweets and other posts may show up in Google searches and you wouldn’t want to be denied a job because you didn’t think before you tweeted. Think

Network Before You Need To

Prepare and Build your network well in advance of when you need it. You don’t want to scramble if you are job hunting.

  • Make connections in your industry and career field
  • Follow experts
  • Join groups on LinkedIn
  • Join in on the discussions