For young adults stepping into the professional world, social media can be both a networking tool and a potential liability. Employers increasingly check applicants’ online presence, sometimes before the first interview is even scheduled. This raises a common question: should you “scrub” your accounts, or simply lock them down before you start applying for jobs? Here’s a balanced look at the pros and cons.
The Pros of Scrubbing or Going Private
1. Protecting Your Professional Image
Old party photos, offhand jokes, or heated debates from high school or college can be taken out of context. By cleaning up your public profiles, you minimize the risk of employers seeing something that could harm your candidacy.
2. Avoiding Bias
Social media often reveals personal information—political views, religious beliefs, or lifestyle choices that you might not want influencing a hiring manager’s perception. Going private helps prevent unconscious bias from creeping into the process.
3. Creating a Fresh Start
Entering the job market is an opportunity to shape your professional brand. Scrubbing or archiving old posts lets you curate a more intentional online identity that aligns with your career goals.
The Cons of Scrubbing or Going Private
1. Losing Positive Visibility
If you delete too much, you might erase valuable evidence of your skills, leadership, or creativity. Public projects, volunteer work, or achievements shared online can help you stand out.
2. Looking “Invisible”
Some employers see a complete lack of online presence as unusual or even suspicious. A thoughtful, professional social media footprint can help you appear modern, engaged, and connected.
3. Overthinking Every Post
Scrubbing too aggressively might make you feel you have to censor yourself constantly. Instead of deleting everything, a more balanced approach could be setting older posts to private and posting new content with a professional lens.
Finding the Middle Ground
For most young professionals, the sweet spot lies between total erasure and oversharing. Review your public profiles and remove—or restrict—anything you wouldn’t want an employer to see. At the same time, keep or create posts that highlight your skills, passions, and personality in a positive way.
