1.
10 Social Media “Do’s and Don’ts”
for High School Students
YourCollegeConcierge.net

2.
67% of admissions officers surveyed in 2015 said they had looked up college applicants
on Facebook. And 40% didn’t like what they found.
These days, social media comes with great responsibility, whether you're just star9ng high school or finishing
up college. On one hand, it’s a convenient way to communicate and connect with others...but on the other
hand, it can be detrimental if used irresponsibly. It can impact the impression college admissions officers or
employers have of you and cost you a spot at your dream school or a job.
The good news is that most of the bad consequences are preventable and easy to avoid with some foresight.
Here are 10 social media mistakes high school students should avoid...and keep in mind that social media
circumstances vary by school, user and situa9on, so use your best judgement and think twice when you share
something publicly.
YourCollegeConcierge.net

3.
Bullying is a serious, vicious problem in schools today. Hateful behavior
and words can cause violence, depression and unrest in a student body. If
a student turns to social media, blogs or other online spaces to post
hur<ul comments, the risks are immeasurable.
In many cases, a student will face expulsion as well as serious criminal
prosecu?on. This can be a nasty record that forever scars your reputa?on.
YourCollegeConcierge.net
1 DON’T be a bully

4.
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2 DON’T trash your
teachers
Similar to bullying, students that post
nega?ve comments online
about teachers (or post embarrassing
photos of them) are also taking a serious
risk. Not only do your instructors have a
right to privacy and respect, but you
never know which one of your teachers
will hold the keys to a great
recommenda?on for your college,
internship, or job.
High school seniors should be careful
not to nega?vely post about specific
colleges or geographical areas.
Admissions officers thoroughly
inves?gate the social media ac?vity and
personali?es of college applicants. One
nega?ve tweet could be the death of
your college acceptance.

5.
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DON’T post illegal activities
Okay, okay...high school and college are ?mes well known for experimenta?on
and explora?on with ac?vi?es and substances. But when a photo or video goes
up online of you caught in the act doing something you wouldn’t want your
mom, teacher or police to see...you open yourself up to expulsion as well as
criminal prosecu?on.
And not just now, but for the REST of your life. Even if your profile is set to
private, a friend can download and save incrimina?ng photos that he or the
authori?es can use against you in the future.
Go through the content on your social media profiles ever so oNen and look at it
through the eyes of an employer or your parent to make sure all of it is legit.
3

6.
This goes for anyone, not just students. This is for your safety, not because it
could cost you a job or hurt your reputa?on. If you post anything that tells the
public your loca?on, your address, your phone number, or any other personal
informa?on, you have no idea who’s eyes could find that.
For example, a friend of ours and mother of a high school senior shared that
her daughter posted her class schedule to Facebook when she first got it. She
wanted to share with friends...but that schedule included her social security
number, student ID, full name, birthday and other informa?on that could
immediately be accessed by anyone without any effort. Her iden?ty could be
stolen in a second from that one “harmless” post.
YourCollegeConcierge.net
4 DON’T post confidential information

7.
Like not sharing your personal informa?on, you also want
to beware of sharing your specific loca?on with your
social check-­‐ins-­‐-­‐-­‐especially if you’re alone. It makes it
easy to connect with nearby friends or keep your parents
informed of where you are, but it makes it easy for
predators to follow you, too.
YourCollegeConcierge.net
5 Don’t share your specific location

8.
Imagine asking your teacher to give you an extension on your essay paper
because you need to visit your “sick” grandmother. Instead, you go to a
concert...and your teacher finds out from hearing about it from a status
update that gets seen by your friends. Guess what your grade is going to be.
This is the same when it comes to lying about professional or academic
achievements if you’re applying to college or an internship. Admissions
officers and employers WILL inves?gate.
YourCollegeConcierge.net
6 DON’T lie

9.
A threat alone, even if you don’t carry it out, is unbelievably serious. Even
if it’s an anonymous, empty threat in an obscure online forum full of
strangers...it will raise red flags. As soon as authori?es have located a
threat, they have the right to inves?gate-­‐-­‐-­‐and they will.
A University of Maryland student was arrested aNer pos?ng his
inten?ons to “kill enough people to make it to na?onal news” on Reddit.
Police arrested him in his dorm room, even though he had no firearms or
weapons on him at the ?me.
YourCollegeConcierge.net
7 DON’T threaten violence

10.
"Whenever I evaluate a poten?al employee, I always take a look at what is
publicly visible on their Facebook profile," says Ryan Cohn, vice president of
social/digital opera?ons at What's Next Marke?ng. "On two separate
occasions, I have rejected entry level prospects (finishing their senior year of
college) for featuring firearms in their profile picture. Both were qualified in
terms of experience and otherwise would have been worthy of an
interview." (Source: Mashable.com)
If you’re applying to work at a local restaurant or you’re a high school student
applying to college, your social media profiles are HIGHLY likely to be looked at
as part of the decision-­‐making process. So making sure your photos and
updates are clean is key. If you find you get tagged in photos that you wouldn’t
want an employer or college admissions officer to see, make sure you remove
the tag as soon as possible.
YourCollegeConcierge.net
8 DO keep a professional profile

11.
Never rely on the privacy sebngs on social media networks 100%. Although
most of the networks update you with privacy improvements, the changes are
hard to follow. However diligent you are in protec?ng your social media
iden?ty, assume anything you post is fair game.
If you don’t want something to be seen, don’t post it on the Internet.
YourCollegeConcierge.net
9
DO maintain privacy

12.
Look, it’s not rocket science, and you’ve probably heard most of this before.
But it doesn’t hurt to remember to use common sense and think twice before
sharing your update with the world.
In the moment it can seem harmless. It’s the moments aNer they can seem
much harsher, especially if it’s seen by the eyes of someone you weren’t
thinking of at the ?me… even years later.
YourCollegeConcierge.net
10 DO use common sense