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First Impressions
Clean up your act on social media before looking for a job.
Susan Peck | Special to the Jewish News
P
arents of teenagers and young
presentation in front of a group of talented
adults know they have a lot of pres- Detroit high school athletes who were look-
sures surrounding college applica-
ing to make the leap to collegiate sports. As
tions, workplace interviews and internships. she addressed them on the importance of
One more thing too important to overlook
being smart on social media, one young man
is the proper management of their social
with a checkered social media footprint was
media sites and the digital footprint they are
not sure how he could fix the potential dam-
creating on forums like Facebook,
age he had already done.
Instagram and Tumblr.
This became a recurrent theme
Take this typical scenerio: You’re
during her presentations on the man-
at a friend’s party; you toasted with
agement of social media. Fisher real-
a typical red plastic cup in hand
ized she was unable to point parents,
and pictures were taken. No big
students, teachers and administrators
deal, right?
to a trusted resource to help them
Wrong — that is if the photos
find their way in the shifting social
are seen online by a college admis-
media landscape. So, she created one.
Julie Fisher
sions officer or employer who
“Today’s kids are practically born
thinks you look like you might be
with a smartphone in hand and start
behaving irresponsibly.
using social media as early as elementary
What may come as a shock is that 50
school. Pair this with imperfect decision
percent of college admissions officers admit
making, and social media mistakes are
to looking at prospective students’ social pro- bound to happen,” said Fisher, a Bloomfield
files to gain deeper insights into their char-
Hills resident and mother of two.
acter, and 92 percent of employers look at
“The Social U includes proprietary soft-
social media before making hiring decisions. ware that reads and interprets online social
A first impression isn’t made with a firm
media data, and flags and grades the content
handshake today; it’s made with a Google
so it can be eliminated before they limit a
search. That means you have to take precau-
student’s academic and employment poten-
tions to make sure your social media reflects tial,” Fisher said. “Students can see what kind
you in the most positive light.
of first impression they will make so they
In short, it’s crucial to keep your virtual
can quickly correct problem posts. In a full
self virtuous — and here’s how:
report, they have one-click access to every
BBFA (Building Better Family through
problem and can learn why it was flagged,
Action) CEO and seasoned educator Julie
get adjustment recommendations and
Fisher launched the Social U — a program
instantly edit or delete the flagged content.”
to clean up students’ social media profiles
Parents and students are surprised by
during school, college and beyond — as they things that are flagged by the Social U for
pursue college, scholarships, jobs and other
removal, but missed by their own eyes.
life opportunities.
Melissa Gould of Birmingham has a son,
Alex, who is a graduating senior at Seaholm
A NEED FOR THE SOCIAL U
High School. “Because I know as a parent
The Social U was inspired by an interaction
I didn’t fully understand the social media
with a young athlete Fisher met during a
world and knew that certain posts can
30 October 13 • 2016
impact your future, we wanted to use the
Social U to clean up the sites,” Gould said.
Nicole Wagner, mother of a daughter who
is a junior at Frances Parker High School
in Chicago, said, “Posts of retweets from
friends, her ice-skating costume photos and
questionable language on my daughter’s sites
were all flagged and then removed.”
Mitch Boorstein, 20, attends the
University of Michigan and is using the pro-
gram now that he is looking for internships.
“I’ve heard from friends that things like
pictures from a party or tailgating that are
innocent may look different to a recruiter,
and I want to be smart about my image,”
Boorstein said.
HOW IT WORKS
The Social U helps students ensure their
social media profiles and related online con-
tent are optimized for success.
The feedback comes in a form students are
already familiar with — a numerical calcula-
tion that is their Social GPA. Students can
secure their Social GPA for free. To access
a full report — with the ability to monitor
social media content, view questionable
posts and learn how to improve a Social GPA
— three-day, one-month and full-year sub-
scriptions are available, ranging from $9.95
to $149.95.
Many school districts have shown interest
in securing the program for their students,
and some, such as Alcona Community
Schools in Lincoln, Mich., and Orange City
School District in Pepper Pike, Ohio, have
already purchased student subscriptions as
part of their college prep process.
“Using a cutting-edge technology suite,
including IBM’s Watson, the Social U grades
each social network using a proprietary algo-
rithm that scans for high-risk words, phrases
and images,” said Robb Lippitt who works in
tandem with Fisher providing the service.
Lippitt, a Bloomfield Hills resident, is
part of the Social U’s team, and is active as
an executive board member of the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and
Tamarack Camps and past board member
of Temple Shir Shalom, where he and Fisher
both attend synagogue.
Ted Spencer, another member of the team,
is former executive director of undergradu-
ate admissions at the University of Michigan
and current senior adviser on admissions
outreach at U-M. He advises the Social U on
what students and parents need to know and
provides insider’s insights direct from the
college admissions office.
A CareerBuilder study revealed the top
five red flags recruiters are looking for in
your social profile: inappropriate photos,
alcohol or drug use, negative posts about past
employers or coworkers, a lack of communi-
cation skills as well as any discriminatory or
inflammatory content regarding race, gender,
religion or other issues.
The survey also revealed what type of
social content made recruiters look favor-
ably on a candidate. This included any
background information that supported
the candidate’s qualifications, signs that the
candidate’s personality would be a good fit
for the company, a professional image, strong
communication skills and creativity.
“It’s a powerful thing. When you hit ‘send,’
you give up control of your content on social
media. The Social U is not about banning
teens from social media all together because
that can also have a negative impact on stu-
dents’ opportunities. Instead, our goal is to
teach our kids how to use it safely and appro-
priately so their social interactions online
enhance their lives and don’t lead to future
problems,” Fisher said.
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