How Your #Hashtages Determine Your Future | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Student Life

How Your #Hashtages Determine Your Future

Your not a business man, you're a business, brand.

31
How Your #Hashtages Determine Your Future
Chicago Tribune

As 2016, the year of the #HashtageChallenges wraps up (thank God), the bowels of social media have been especially full of young people doing what young people do best...stupid stuff on the internet. This is not to say that every online challenge is bad, nor should the whole "challenge culture" (as I like to call it) be shunned. These online challenges link people from all around the world, provide light-hearted entertainment and spread happiness throughout the generations and (especially) minority groups.

When the #PostYourMomChallenge

blew up, I was thrilled. It was ADORABLE seeing all of the users on my timeline post a sweet message about the women who raised them. I myself even joined in, posting an adorable video of my mom and I on a lunch date. People liked and commented, telling me to tell her "hello" and such. It was innocent. It was harmless. It was internet friendly.

However, in recent days, the social media streams have been contaminated by the #postavideoyoucantexplain phenomena. The instructions are simple; post a weird, random video showing hilarious tomfoolery without any context. Where the challenge was born, that may remain a secret of the internet. However, this trend struck me in a different matter.

Where the #postyourmomchallenge remained light-hearted and sentimental, the #postavideoyoucantexplain

trend took a turn for the sour. Videos emerged of college and high school students engaged in debauchery and general mayhem. In many of these videos, clearly illegal and uncontrolled acts were occurring, all captured through an 8-megapixel iPhone camera.

The videos were hilarious, I'll give you that, but they weren't lighthearted. As everyone knows, your online activity will affect your job opportunity in the future. Since the beginning, we were warned be careful what is posted online

,because once it's up there it can never come down.

For the sake of staying hip and entertaining others, I think that we have forgotten this simple rule. We have drifted far from the days of asking a parent if we could log online. Some people think that being cleaner or more refined on one social media will not affect the other, but that's not true as well.

"I would never post THAT on Facebook...but this is Twitter lol"

Well, studies show that colleges that reported they check social media check all of them, including the ones you think are "off limits".

Instead of participating in every challenge that shows up, why don't you begin to use your social media as a personal resume

? And no, this doesn't mean become a fake clean-cut poser on your accounts, it merely suggests using the fact that colleges and employers check the internet to your advantage.

Post pictures of you volunteering, interesting articles and clean photographs for starters. Show what your best interest are, and align yourself with people who carry themselves properly on social media. Build your online presence into that of a strong but humble student, ready to learn and make the world a better place. Know not only what type of pictures not to post, but the ones you SHOULD upload. Live your online

life as if your parent was watching...because most likely, they are.

I am not telling you what you can or cannot do, and how you should behave in your free time. I am saying that no matter what you do, be mindful of the content that you are attaching your name to in the caption box. The web is doing nothing but expanding, and our parents were spot on when they warned us that something bought by the internet can never be returned.

Use, but don't abuse. Ignore the hooplah trends that move like wind through the rafters of the internet and stay true to your privacy. Use discretion now, before you wind up doing the #noonewillhiremechallenge.

Be wise out there.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Featured

15 Mind-Bending Riddles

Hopefully they will make you laugh.

195960
 Ilistrated image of the planet and images of questions
StableDiffusion

I've been super busy lately with school work, studying, etc. Besides the fact that I do nothing but AP chemistry and AP economics, I constantly think of stupid questions that are almost impossible to answer. So, maybe you could answer them for me, and if not then we can both wonder what the answers to these 15 questions could be.

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

Most Epic Aurora Borealis Photos: October 2024

As if May wasn't enough, a truly spectacular Northern Lights show lit up the sky on Oct. 10, 2024

18296
stunning aurora borealis display over a forest of trees and lake
StableDiffusion

From sea to shining sea, the United States was uniquely positioned for an incredible Aurora Borealis display on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, going into Friday, Oct. 11.

It was the second time this year after an historic geomagnetic storm in May 2024. Those Northern Lights were visible in Europe and North America, just like this latest rendition.

Keep Reading...Show less
 silhouette of a woman on the beach at sunrise
StableDiffusion

Content warning: This article contains descriptions of suicide/suicidal thoughts.

When you are feeling down, please know that there are many reasons to keep living.

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

Power of Love Letters

I don't think I say it enough...

460438
Illistrated image of a letter with 2 red hearts
StableDiffusion

To My Loving Boyfriend,

  • Thank you for all that you do for me
  • Thank you for working through disagreements with me
  • Thank you for always supporting me
  • I appreciate you more than words can express
  • You have helped me grow and become a better person
  • I can't wait to see where life takes us next
  • I promise to cherish every moment with you
  • Thank you for being my best friend and confidante
  • I love you and everything you do

To start off, here's something I don't say nearly enough: thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You do so much for me that I can't even put into words how much I appreciate everything you do - and have done - for me over the course of our relationship so far. While every couple has their fair share of tiffs and disagreements, thank you for getting through all of them with me and making us a better couple at the other end. With any argument, we don't just throw in the towel and say we're done, but we work towards a solution that puts us in a greater place each day. Thank you for always working with me and never giving up on us.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

11 Signs You Grew Up In Hauppauge, NY

Because no one ever really leaves.

28065
Map of Hauppauge, New York
Google

Ah, yes, good old Hauppauge. We are that town in the dead center of Long Island that barely anyone knows how to pronounce unless they're from the town itself or live in a nearby area. Hauppauge is home to people of all kinds. We always have new families joining the community but honestly, the majority of the town is filled with people who never leave (high school alumni) and elders who have raised their kids here. Around the town, there are some just some landmarks and places that only the people of Hauppauge will ever understand the importance or even the annoyance of.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments