By Matt Koper/reporter
Alma Martinez-Egger has her dream job because she protected her image.
Martinez, the human resources director for online employee learning, gave the Seven Habits of Highly Connected Social Media Users presentation Oct. 22 on NE Campus.
“Once you press ‘enter,’ the info is out there, and you can’t control it,” she said.
She divided the seven habits of highly connected social media users into four negative habits and three positive habits. They ranged from negative habits such as “violator,” “disparager,” “ranter” and “#winning” to the positive ones like “landscaper,” “safekeeper” and “minder.”
The violator and disparager go hand in hand, she said. A violator is someone who posts comments that “violate social etiquette or company policy.” A disparager blogs or “badmouths” someone about the same things.
Martinez showed two pictures posted on Facebook, one of a woman flipping off the silence sign at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and another of a Taco Bell employee licking a stack of taco shells.
“The woman in the picture received a lot of hate emails and phone calls as well — there was a ton of backlash,” she said. “When you are a violator or a disparager, these effects come back to bite you. Both employees were fired.”
Potential employers are constantly looking at applicants’ Facebook and other social media pages, Martinez said.
“Companies will check to see what kind of person you are before they hire you by looking on social media,” she said. “If you contradict yourself on social media, you cannot be taken seriously as a professional.”
The landscaper and minder also go together. A landscaper is someone who is “aware” and posts items that have a “preferred perception,” while a minder “engages in critical thinking” before posting anything on social media, Martinez said.
“Practicing the landscaper habit is like taking care of your yard,” she said. “You have to mow the grass, weed it, pull out the bugs and so on to your Facebook page to make sure it’s cleaned up.”
There are restrictions on social media, Martinez said.
“Since everyone has the right to freedom of speech, if you post something someone hates, they have every right to take action against you, whether it is through your employer, school or just de-friending you,” she said.
NE student Destany Delean said she left the presentation more self-aware.
“I’ll clean up my Facebook page to set myself up for my future,” she said. “People can find you and use what you post against you.”
