Social Media Mistakes You Don’t Realize Could Cost You Your Job

You know better (at least we hope so) than to post inappropriate photos, updates that contradict your “I’m at home sick today” phone call and other inappropriate social media faux pas by now. While you might not post pictures of yourself drinking or update your status when you’re at work or home sick, you might be making a few social media mistakes that aren’t so obvious. These social media mistakes can cost you your job, which means you should sit down and take note quickly.

Too Many “Likes”

In theory, no one cares how often you like something on Facebook. However, even if you’re not posting inappropriate photos or smack-talking your boss all day long on Twitter, you might still lose your job. Why? Because if your coworkers or boss notice how often you “Like” other people’s statuses, share great links or change your profile picture during the workday, they might not think you take your job very seriously. Save the likes of this (see what I did there?) for after hours.

Using the Wrong Email

If you’re applying for jobs and you use your real email address, you’re going to have a problem. You might think your profile is so secure and private that your potential boss can’t find it, but he can. What you can’t do is use the same email address at work or to apply for work that you used to create any of your social media profiles. There are simply too many programs that allow people to pull up the social media profiles of their contacts using only their email addresses.

Not Being Private

Even if you never post inappropriate pictures or allow others to do the same, you still need to privatize your profile. It doesn’t matter if you never update your status so you don’t have to worry about your boss judging you; lock it down. Your boss will judge you if your profile is not private. Why? Because it’s hands down 100 percent more responsible to make it private than to leave it open.

(Photo Illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)