The reality of today is that social media is among us and more than ever. From ages 10 to 70, I have seen an endless amount of content by all types of people. Due to the influx of social media use, it has become more and more normalized to be as much of yourself as you want to be when posting. I have found that on apps like Tik Tok, Gen Z specifically really values self expression and creativity. While this is great in some aspects, it begs the question... what about professionals? As Gen Z are the ones becoming the professionals, is it appropriate for us to show our full authentic self on social media for clients to see? Should we be limiting our content?
Because social media is so normal in today's world, we cannot discount the fact that our clients can easily look us up if we have a social media presence. There are a multitude of ways to do this- Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter... and I'm sure there will be another new platform before we know it. It is a difficult concept to think about. Although it may seem unreasonable for a client to withdraw from services based on their view of their attorney on social media, I could see this being an issue. I have not seen it first hand, but sometimes people share so much on social media, that unfortunately, criticism follows. This concept does just not apply to lawyers, but all kinds of professionals. What if your doctor posted something distasteful or something that you do not agree with on social media? Would it affect your opinion on their ability to provide you care?
I don't know the answer to these questions or how others would respond, but it's something that I have been thinking about as a soon-to-be practicing attorney. It is so easy to look people up on social media, so nothing is going to stop clients or other people we interact with within our future professional field.
I usually err on the side of caution when I post on social media, but would not say I post super frequently anyway. When I was in a sorority in college, we were spoken to about what should and should not be posted on social media from a professional standpoint, so I might have this concept already engrained in me. I am curious if everyone already limits their content now, or plan to tailor it in a certain way when we are practicing attorneys. I don't think there is a right or wrong way to go about social media, but I think it is something that we should be thinking about as it continues to dominate the technological space.
I think there is an interesting balance as the world continues to further embrace social media, where it is easier to find people, and people continue to "overshare" or have a large online social media presence. While the risks grow that a client or a colleague find your social media off putting, there also is a growing acceptance that everyone has some sort of online social media presence, and we are less surprised that even professionals may show their personal lives online.
ReplyDeleteI think this also raises the question of how people, particularly professionals, have to act in public as well. With social media, we at least have some level of control for who can access our content (privacy settings are a great tool), but we cannot control the content others post.
ReplyDeleteIt seems the first reaction someone has these days is to record everything around them. It feels like we are at risk sometimes from our own conduct being misinterpreted and posted online for others to criticize. I've seen many times on Tiktok where an employee says something inappropriate only for it to lead that business to suffer for it because of a flood of Google reviews.
As someone who went through college and my first master's with no technology available, I am always astounded by the number of people who post outlandish things on social media. I constantly monitored my daughter's Instagram and Facebook accounts when she was applying to college to make sure that she did not have anything there that could potentially harm her chances of admission. The same holds true when it comes to the work place. I am sure that there are employers who look into an applicant's social media to get a better picture of who they are.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, why would anyone realistically post something like that anyway? I understand that we enjoy freedom of speech, but where should people draw the line?
Clients might look at their attorney's social media posts and judge them based upon the content. Similarly, if an attorney looks at a client's social media content it is also possible that the attorney may not want to represent that individual from what was posted.
Interesting topic!! Thanks.
I think this is a great topic because this will impact all of us as we get out into the professional workforce. I too err on the side of not posting too much and that will continue as I go out into the workforce.
ReplyDeleteIt is very easy to look up clients, so what makes us any different. There are also so many platforms that people use that makes the opportunities endless to see what people are doing.
I don't post much on social media anyways, but I am all for private accounts. But this doesn't always work if there is a creative side project you are working on and you want it to gain attention. I know that high school students look up their teachers online and know a lot more than they would have without it, so it definitely is something to think about in all professions.
ReplyDeleteKaliope,
ReplyDeleteDuring my undergrad studies, I took a course in Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) - basically, how to scrape publicly available information on someone, whether gathered by third parties or generated by them. Private or not, there's a good chance that whatever you're posting will get out if someone is determined enough.
With that said, when I train new hires, I remind them that there's a certain standard of behavior and conduct expected of them, and that those expectations bleed over into the parts of your personal life that you choose to make public - just because you're not capturing something, doesn't mean someone in the background isn't.
This is something so important to consider and always have in the back of our minds as we approach entering the legal field. Especially those who plan to practice in Florida (and i imagine this applies in many other places as well), where we are always held to the standard of acting as a professional inside and outside the office. It is hard to have any sort of privacy in this day and age, and you can assume any client you ever have can easily and likely will find your social media. I try not to post much and like to keep accounts private to keep at least some privacy when it seems impossible to do today.
ReplyDelete