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LinkedIn, the social network aimed at maintaining professional relationships between colleagues and contacts, has announced a reduction in age for new members. In the past, people had to be 18 to sign up for a LinkedIn account, but the recent change now means that teenagers as young as 13 can apply for membership.
Unlike other social networks (such as Facebook and Twitter), LinkedIn is used to maintain and strengthen professional relationships using common social networking tools. Colleagues past and present can “link” profiles and catch up on each other’s professional progress. Similarly, LinkedIn users are encouraged to connect with business partners and others they know professionally outside their own business. Advanced tools include forums that allow professionals to link with other people sharing the same professional interests to share knowledge and experience.
So why invite teenagers?
Being that most teenagers under 18 will have only held part-time jobs, why is LinkedIn offering profiles to those aged 13+? According to Internet expert , the idea is to help young people create two different online profiles – one for personal use, such as their Facebook page, and a second for professional purposes, provided by LinkedIn. Speaking to the BBC, Doctor Hogan said it would help children to, “differentiate between the public profile they want for employment [and] the personal profile they share on Facebook with their friends and family.”
Accounts belonging to under-18s will have much of their personal information hidden by default, in order to offer them additional identity protection. LinkedIn has also announced plans to clearly link safety information and advice for their young users in the event that they encounter harassment, bullying or abuse by other members.
Why do you need two profiles?
Many young people remain unaware that employers now routinely “vet” their social networking accounts in an effort to gain a better understanding of potential employees. Teenagers who swear, post photographs of criminal activities, imply regular drunkenness or other anti-social activities may find themselves at a disadvantage to other candidates who do not share such material.
Dr Hogan believes that this new personal-professional profile approach may help young people to learn about the dangers of sharing sensitive information in the wrong arena. Speaking of current candidate research techniques Hogan said, "I am personally opposed to employers intruding on Facebook pages while screening candidates. The risk of unintended discrimination is very high."
Balancing personal and professional profiles
Although LinkedIn’s rule change opens the platform to young people so that they can build a professional profile, teenagers will still need to exercise mature judgement to avoid annoying existing users of the network. Because the tone of conversations taking place on LinkedIn tend to be mature and professional, new members will need to make sure their own posts adhere to these standards. Overly personal posts, or unhelpful comments on discussion boards, could annoy existing users and lead to their account being suspended or deleted.
Because LinkedIn can be used to create an authoritative personal profile, it is essential that new users of any age sign up with their real name. Approaching LinkedIn as a CV that constantly updates, may help young people focus on the “point” of LinkedIn and ensure that they use it to increase their exposure to would-be employers and showcase their skills and abilities.
The dangers of over-sharing
Although teenagers now have a safe place to create a professional profile, there is nothing to say that potential employers will restrict their online searches to LinkedIn. With dozens of applications for most job roles, employers will use any tool available to whittle down the list, including Facebook and Twitter.
So, although young people may hope for a split between personal and professional lives across different social networks, they cannot expect employers to respect that wish. Instead, young people should always assume that what they post online is public, permanent and potentially embarrassing. There are some common things to avoid posting on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn:
•*Excessive swearing – employers have no guarantee that such language will not be used when talking to their customers.
•*Drinking and drug taking – not only are such activities illegal, but employers rightly worry that the person involved may have an addiction that will impair their effectiveness at work.
•*Nudity – Naked pictures attract the wrong kinds of attention and indicate immaturity.
The Internet never forgets, so it is essential that young people never post anything online that they are not happy for friends and strangers to know. They should also never assume any guarantee of privacy because content can often be shared far beyond the original intended audience. Similarly, social network users should take it for granted that anything they post online is permanent – even if they delete questionable content from their account, there are usually ways to get that information back.
Think, think, think
LinkedIn appears to be trying to help young people use social networking for their own advancement, and in doing so has raised the importance of thinking about what is posted online before clicking “share”. Whether using LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or Google+, the key consideration is always the same – should I really post this update?
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