Social media is a two-edged sword for students

Remember in ancient days when a picture was worth a thousand words? Now, one click is worth a million viewers. Social media is here to stay. Facebook claims it has more than 1 billion active monthly users. Twitter claims 200 million users. According to a Pew Research Center study on the Internet conducted in late 2012, 67 percent of adults use Facebook, 16 percent use Twitter and 15 percent use Pinterest.

Even the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had to acknowledge that social media is the new norm. On April 2, the SEC released a report stating that users can provide public disclosures for corporate communications with social media channels if users comply with fair disclosure regulations. The SEC’s announcement followed its investigation of Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix Inc. and his first-time use of his personal Facebook account as a way to provide corporate metrics and whether Hasting’s action violated regulations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Therein lies the major problem with quick-trigger social media senders. Sometimes they don’t think of consequences before they submit messages into cyber space. Social media requires caution, restraint and common sense.

As educators and anti-fraud practitioners we can use social media apps and sites to research, investigate cases of suspected fraud and conduct background-hiring checks. That’s helpful. Students, however, can quickly post questionable comments and photos that can come back to bite them when prospective employees do name searches. That’s harmful.