For the early 20-year-olds, Twitter used to be a means of communication among your extended friend group; Now it’s a place to share your thoughts among a group of professionals. Twitter became the “cool new thing” when I was in high school, a time when my newsfeed comprised of complaining about class, expressing excitement of an upcoming event, or sharing funny pictures of friends. Upon its introduction, I never thought that one day it would be used beyond the 14-22 age group and I failed to consider who would later be viewing my random thoughts.
My Twitter content was not necessarily inappropriate but honestly embarrassing to look back on. The idea that future employers could go through my account and see what I deemed appropriate to tweet at age 16 made me seriously rethink my social media presence. Although a span of 5 years is not necessarily a lifetime, in the social media world it makes a major difference. My interests on social media have little in common with people just a few years younger than me and our uses of social media vary greatly as well. While I still actively post pictures to Facebook, high schoolers tend to rely more on Instagram as their photo sharing source. This slight age gap depicts how much can change in a few years, and supports my idea of the need to “refresh” your social media content.
After my blog post happened to end up on Nieman Lab (big thanks to Professor Robinson) with my Twitter handle tied to the post, I decided it was time to 1. begin actively using Twitter again and 2. erase my professionally inappropriate posts from high school. While some might disagree with my decision, I am a firm believer that less is more. I tend to delete people on Facebook who I have nothing in common with anymore and believe that by starting over on my Twitter account that I will also make it more relevant to my current interests. As college students, we have left a major part of our life in the past and although I enjoy reflecting back, I feel that social media accounts should reflect your current self.
laurenpershke 