About 80 percent of colleges use Facebook and other social networking sites to recruit students, with many firing off friend requests to soon-to-be freshmen. In light of that, many education experts now say that students should take special care to make sure prospective students’ online profiles don’t sabotage their changes of getting into the school of their choice. “A first impression is no longer a handshake; it’s a Google search, it’s a search on Facebook,” says Dan Schawbel, author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success. “Because all of this information is online, it makes it easier for employers and admissions officers to find out information about candidates.” Schawbel and others say that college-bound youth should take special care with their photos, particularly their profile photos, and make sure they don’t depict themselves doing something inappropriate or illegal. Guard what you say online, and make sure your privacy settings are pretty rigorous so your carefully crafted online introductions don’t spin out of your control. “If you don’t set your preferences so that people can’t tag pictures of you, then you lose control of your brand and how you’re perceived online,” Schawbel says. “Those pictures will represent you at the forefront when someone searches for your name.” (Fox News)
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