What you put up on your social media account says a lot about you. A quick way to know about a person’s character and personality is to check through their social media page. This is why many formal institutions do so.Colleges have no access to look into your private social media accounts. However, a random search for you on the internet can reveal old or new information about you. There is a possibility of this information being incriminating, and this is why you have to be careful with what you put up on your page.
Why Colleges Look At Students Private Social Media Accounts
Colleges are concerned about the principles, ideologies, attitudes, and characters of students they hope to admit to their educational institution. The best platform to satisfy their concerns is the social media world because this is the best place to know how many young people think, act, and talk. Some of the reasons why colleges check the social media pages of aspirants include but are not limited to the following:
I) To know how professional the students are
II) To know how morally conscious the students are
III) To know how much positive impact they make in their immediate community
IV) To know who these students follow on social media
V) To check how intelligent the contents the students put up are
To Know How Professional The Students Are
A student’s social media page reveals how serious-minded such a student is. If the students’ posts are always on the fun side, with pictures of partying, clubbing, drinking, and dancing all over their pages, then this might be a source of concern to the college the student aspires to attend. A serious-minded student knows that there is a time for everything. It is not a crime to have fun, but that shouldn’t take up to half of your everyday life. At this stage, you should be concerned with building your career, your business, or being a positive change agent in your community. If you allow thoughts of these to keep you busy, you will have little time for fun.
To Know How Morally Conscious The Students Are
Everyone indeed has their definition of morality. However, we cannot deny the common-sense view that some things are generally acceptable, while some other things are generally unacceptable. As a student aspiring to go to college, you should understand that it is not every time you live by personal, subjective, or relative codes of conduct. You don’t live in isolation, your attitude directly or indirectly affects those around you. So, if you are often posting nudes, offensive statements, and promoting controversial discussions like racism, you should take a break from doing these, as they might hinder your admission processes.
To Know How Much Positive Impact They Make In Their Immediate Community
It is always nice to see an admission officer go through a social media page full of so many volunteering and community development activities. It shows that the student in question channels spare time to the best good he or she can offer. This further shows that the student would in the long run be an asset to the school. So, it is natural for the college to want to admit such a student. After all, every institution and college wants individuals who are disciplined and creative, as this will help in promoting the institution and college’s growth and development, and by implication ranking them among the best in the state.
To Know Who These Students Follow On Social Media
College admission officers understand that young people are highly influenced by the kind of company they keep, especially, the pages they follow on social media. If a student follows individuals whose frequent activities have no relation to the academic interest of the student and college, in the long run, there is a possibility that the student will be distracted and influenced by the individual he/she follows. No college wants this, because it may either result in the student having a low GPA or becoming a nuisance to the college. On the other hand, a student who follows a high-ranking academic staff that has a career-oriented personality is likely to gain the favor of the admission officer.
To Check How Intelligent The Contents The Students Put Up Are
Sometimes, a student’s intelligence is measured by the kind of content they put up on their pages. If all an admission officer sees are contents that make a joke about someone, or evoke a biased controversy, this would not tell well on the students’ application results. However, if a student puts up educational and informative content often, this is a good sign that such a student would likely meet up with the college’s admission requirements.
From the foregoing, it is obvious that colleges don’t just check students’ social media accounts for the sake of it, rather, they do so to know the students’ potential, and how well they can promote the good name of the school.
Conclusion
Although private social media accounts cannot be look up by colleges, the internet has a way of revealing things we don’t want people to see. So, if you are a college aspirant, it is advisable to regulate what you put up on your pages, and also, delete every post that might be a hindrance to your journey to college.
Frequently Asked Questions
1) How can an account capable of ruining my admission process be rectified?
Answer
You can either decide to delete all incriminating posts or delete the account and create a new one.
2) Do all colleges check and look at students’ social media accounts?
Answer
Although the practice of this is declining, many colleges still do this, as the potential of students they hope to admit matters to them.
