Careers and social media use: Need for wisdom and emotional intelligence
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| 7 hours 13 minutes |
Written by Sopuruchukwu Egbodo @SopuruEgbodo
This article was inspired by the story of Sergi Guardiola, a 25 years old Spanish midfielder who was signed on Monday December 28th, 2015 by 3pm (Nigerian time) and fired 7 hours 13 minutes later by FC Barcelona of Spain due to the offensive tweets he made against the Catalans and FC Barcelona in 2013 (Barcelona is part of a Spanish territory, seeking for an independent state of Catalonia).
*Please note that Sergi Guardiola has no relation with former FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola.
Before now the social media was not taken very seriously. (In Nigeria for instance) Youths and individuals who were hooked on to the social media were termed unserious and lazy, but today almost everybody in our 21st century universe both young and old has either one, two or more social media accounts where they share their personal thoughts, moments and even have fun with others.
According to statista.com as at the 3rd quarter of 2015, there were 1.55 billion monthly active users worldwide on Facebook alone. Out of that number 15 million were from Nigeria. “Smart” businesses, politicians, celebrities, government agencies etc in a bid to increase patronage have also adopted the social media for sales, customer service, the hiring process and public relations. The humongous patronage of the social media means it is now being taking seriously.
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| One of the annoying tweets |
THE SOCIAL MEDIA AND YOUR CAREER
Before it became protected, Sergi Guardiola’s official twitter account (@Sergiguardiola7) indicated that, in 2013 Sergi Guardiola had in one of his offensive tweets called a twitter user a Catalonian whore and showed his support for FC Barcelona’s arch rivals Real Madrid.
With the number of individuals using the social media today, it means that every post, every comment, every like and every tweet that one publishes on his or her social media handles matters a lot, because they give a “Peep” into the lifestyle and beliefs of the owner. That is, one post on facebook for instance is enough to give a summary of one’s person, whether they are true representations or not.
The strategy for organizations at some point during the hiring process, is to check out the social media profiles of candidates who had applied for job positions. If they don’t check during this time (The hiring stage) they will later on, and the outcome? Sergi’s case says it all. Therefore it is advisable that individuals should be careful about their actions on the social media. Above being careful with personal actions on the social media, there is need for a “Constant” review and change of toxic individual habits, because the covert is the mother of the overt.
"Above being careful with personal actions on the social media, there is need for a 'Constant' review and change of toxic individual habits, because the covert is the mother of the overt."
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| Medicine after death: Sergio Guardiola's protected twitter account |
NEED FOR WISDOM AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Sergi Guardiola’s explanation:
"I want to make {sic} clear {sic} I didn’t write those tweets. A friend took my phone and did it. It’s a misunderstanding. The tweets are from 2013, a joke from a friend, I didn’t even know the tweets existed”~ http://www.dailymail.co.ukKnowing the dangers of the wrong posts, comments, and likes on the social media on careers, one needs to apply wisdom in his online interactions. No serious organization has the time to waste on investigating an alibi like the one above, therefore there is need for us to create a balance between our immediate feelings, respect for other people’s feelings and opinions, and freedom of expression in the posts we release on the social media.
Who knows those tweets or posts you made to deliver "knock-out punches" or to sound funny, might turn out to become “Little foxes” that would spoil (or is spoiling) your vine. And some “Vines” can be big (opportunities) like playing for FC Barcelona, presently the best club in the world.
He who has ears, let him hear what the "Spirit" is saying.
Happy workers' day celebrations.
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