‘Mistakes are lessons, and you can learn from them.’

‘There is no such thing as failure, just giving up…’

There are many sayings about how we can overcome failure, or mistakes we make, and indeed these experiences can become our best teachers. However, that depends on everyone forgetting our mistakes, or forgiving us for them. And the one place that doesn’t happen is social media…

It may feel to you that when you post a picture on Facebook, or have a late-night argument with someone about a political event, or a movie that’s getting everyone talking (and you lose your temper and use rude words) that these will soon be lost and forgotten as people scroll on down and get distracted by the latest news.

However, the truth is that social media doesn’t forget, and it’s not always easy to delete things – especially not if someone took a screenshot. These pictures and records remain on the internet, for anyone to find if they are looking for information about you. And the first thing many employers do, before they phone you with that final offer, is search for your digital records on google. You can learn a lot from people about what they post, and employers will happily look at your Facebook profile or your Instagram pictures to see what kind of person you present to the world.

So it is very important that you realise that what you put on social media is almost an addendum to your CV! It is your brand that is out there. As one South African lawyer says, if you would be uncomfortable with anything you post hitting the front page of tomorrow’s newspapers for everyone to see, then it is unwise to put it out there.

In a study in America, it was found that one in ten jobseekers had not been invited for an interview, or given a job, because employers looked at their social media profile and did not like what they saw. This can even just be photos of people drinking, or writing silly things on their page, or swearing in comments – anything that makes the employer feel that the jobseekers did not seem professional.

Sometimes, social media can cost people their jobs. In America, two teachers were fired because of what they posted on Facebook – one teacher talked about smoking weed, and another one just had a photo where she was drinking alcohol. In both cases they were asked to resign. In South Africa a nurse was fired when she criticised Jacob Zuma, whose wife had been admitted to the hospital she worked at.

One woman got into trouble because she shared on social media – wanting to tell her friends –  that she was offered a job she didn’t want, but had a good salary, and so reluctantly she decided she would do it for the money. The company found out that she didn’t like the sound of the job, and the offer was withdrawn. And then there are many stories of people who were ‘sick’, and yet their bosses saw Facebook posts of them later that day at parties, or on a boat…

Even with emails, or whatsapps, that feel private, going to that person you trust.. Once they are on someone else’s device, they are out there, and your friend could do anything they want with them. With one tap that photo could be sent to hundreds of people. Obviously we hope our friends won’t do this, but there have been cases where this has happened. You have probably heard of the concept of ‘revenge porn’, where ex-boyfriends or girlfriends post those secret pictures they had sworn never to share…

And sometimes you can make mistakes yourself. A friend once was in a very boring meeting, and surreptitiously sent a message complaining about the chairperson who was talking for too long. She meant to send it to a colleague in the same meeting, but because she was doing it under the table, she pressed the wrong button – and sent it straight to the chairperson! The meeting suddenly felt too short for her, as she knew that the chairperson would see her message after the meeting finished!

So be careful with what you post, and how you present yourself on social media. What you say or post may feel fleeting, that it will disappear in an instant once you put out a new post, but the truth is it can last longer than you realise, and one day come back to haunt you…