In previous blog posts on my company web site, we explored interview pitfalls encountered by candidates seeking employment with our company, Tipping Point Media. We also discussed how social media can play an important role in connecting job seekers with new opportunities.
After reading these posts, a hiring manager contacted me to relay their frustration over inappropriate behavior displayed by their latest crop of candidates. These interviewees mistook “social media connection” as a real friendship.
“If you wouldn’t call a hiring manager ‘sweetie’ in a job interview,” they said, “then, you shouldn’t do it on Twitter, either.”
That was exactly what a candidate had done recently, leaving the hiring manager (and their company) stunned. The blunder cost that candidate any consideration for the position. Other frustrations have included a request for “no phone calls.” They realized the job post should have also included “no direct messages (DMs).” According to the manager, they had people contacting them about the job, asking staffers for “inside information” and they didn’t even have a relationship with them.
The hiring manager summarized the situation by saying, “Social media can create a sense of ‘false friendship’ and not being cognizant of those boundaries can be detrimental.”
That e-mail left me thinking about how users perceive the connections they make online.
Facebook users are labeled as friends, supporters or fans. There is no allowance for the “casual acquaintance” or the-person-I-am-nice-to-but-am-actually-creeped-out-by. LinkedIn gets you “connections” but would you say you are really connected? While Twitter uses the term followers, the very open and casual nature of Tweeting doesn’t always allow you to say everything you mean. In 140 characters, there is little room for depth and sometimes following someone is misconstrued as a sign of adulation when it could be anything but.
Are the people you talk to online really your friends?
In a job interview, it is hard to ignore the things we learn about people online. When you have been given a glimpse into a person’s story through photos, videos, and blog posts, it’s challenging not to feel like a friend. I have now met many people in person whom I first met through social media. When we say hello and shake hands for the first time in the real world, we sometimes do so with an extensive online history, but should we consider ourselves friends?
I can’t leave you with a definitive answer. We are only just beginning to assimilate the new world of social media and how it affects our traditional interactions. I know some people who would argue that friendships made online are as substantial as those made in the analog world. Those who make that assumption, like the interview candidates mentioned earlier, may find themselves alienating those with whom they’ve created a professional dialogue online but who may have a very different opinion.
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Michelle Ashby is the CEO/President of Tipping Point Media in Rochester, NY. You can reach her at https://www.tippingpointmedia.com.
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