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Angelica Zheng

Instructor Andreea Corona

Linguistics 3B

11/05/2021

Social Media Benefits One’s Career and College Life

In current years, social media has dominated the Internet. With the climbing

popularity of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, people are increasingly

dependent on social media. Many people have expressed their views on the impact of

social media. Even though social media can cause distractions and other detrimental

effects mentioned in Newport's article, Quit Social Media. Your Career May

Depend on It, Mr. Gillooly still pointed out many benefits in Don’t Quit Social

Media. Put It to Work for Your Career Instead. that the social media brings to our

career and college life. For instance, social media can become people’s  additional

resume when they are applying for companies or associations. At the same time, it

also brings a sense of belonging and a platform to find people who has same interests

and experiences with each other. As far as I’m concerned, the advantages of social

media to our college and career life unmistakably outperform the negative

consequences.

First and foremost, people’s social media profile provides extra information about

them to raise the chance of employment. As Mr.Gillooly stated in his article, Don’t

Quit Social Media. Put It to Work for Your Career Instead. , “you can manage your
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digital trail to increase the odds that a potential employer will form a positive

impression of you.” This implies that people can model their identity on social media

at their will in order to build a prominent character compared to other candidates. For

example, if people left their social media account for HR when applying for an

entertainment company, and they‘ve already posted a lot of videos of singing,

dancing, painting and playing the piano on their main page, HR may give them

additional opportunities because one of the posts that unintentionally catch the

interviewer’s eyes. As well as application of an occupation, these benefits act the

same in school associations too. As maintained by Mr.Gillooly, “Most employers and

customers I’ve talked to are ultimately looking for confirmation of their excitement

about you, not reasons for suspicions or doubts.” The majority of student associations

required students to write resumes when recruiting, and the students’ social media

main pages has become the verification and continuation of their resume. The

relationship between senior students and junior students is closer than that between

bosses and employees. So student interviewers are even more likely to have the

interviewees’ personal accounts. People’s social accounts can not only reveal their

daily life, , but also divulge their talents and character. Specifically speaking, when a

student association president sees one’s past experience in their main page, such as

participating in math competitions, he/she is more likely to give them a higher

position in the community. It’s effortless to make a few posts to let all know their

current situation, so I can see no reason that against it. Running an account will not

only save the HR’s time to know people, but also improve the probability of an
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applicant being admitted. And it may also shorten the relationship between people and

their colleagues in the company or their schoolmates in the college. Accordingly,

cultivating the social media becomes a bonus item to anybody who would like to find

a job or join an organization. We can use it as a mean that benefits us to surpass other

while the majority of the users didn’t realize the additional buff it might bring to

people. Having this buff, collage students or employees would have a smoother route

to higher education and promotion.

Secondly, not only can social media provide extra attention from superior,

but also can it enhance friendship, provide real support and a sense of belonging,

because the network has a higher tolerance for some marginalized people. Pointed out

by Mr.Gillooly, “In the case of clients in particular, exposing yourself to diverse

views expressed on social media will make it easier to find common ground, as you

can expect to work with people from all walks of life and political backgrounds. This

will not happen naturally if you visit the same publications every day (which are

probably in line with your views), but it can happen on social media if you follow a

well-rounded collection of sources.” As I understand it, whether she/he is interested in

an unusual topic that is not "cool" at all, or struggling with gender identity, she/he can

find her/his own kind on the Internet. Netizens in the global village will embrace

anybody who feel like they are minority. Social media does not entrap the netizens,

but expose them into a wider view that people can better find the suffering in the

world and to have kindness. Generally, some large-scale fundraising is spread by

some kind-hearted people on social media. So that social media can let people see
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what others are doing, find belonging and improve their happiness. After having a

good mood and a nice sense of belonging, people are easier to find a supporting group

either formed by their friends or colleges. By having this group of people always

surrounding them, they will have more information sources and more confidence to

get their work done. And finally, their efficiencies are increased and also as a group, it

is easier to be appreciated by their superior, thus benefiting college and career life.

Although it’s true that social media were designed addictive, people spend

more time on this just because people find their home and world here and find friends

or couples they can't find in reality. Psychologically speaking, the existence of social

software helps some children who doubt themselves to build self-confidence.

Contrary to what Mr. Karadkar said in his article, "these relationships tend to

terminate easily due to a lack of personal contact." As long as the network exists, net

friends are always there. On the contrary, those friendship relationships established

because of in-person contact will end as long as they suddenly don't see each other.

For example, after going to college, high school friends won't contact much, or after

moving, playmates near their original home won't call them to hang out much. In

short, social media helps people establish long-term relationships. Moreover,

according to Yang Lan said in her TED talk about finding couples, “because of

selected abortion by families who favored boys to girls, now we have ended up with

30 million more young men than women.” Chinese men's courtship problem has also

been solved because of social media. In our globalized world, they can find foreign
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girls to marry. In any case, social media deserves more credit for maintaining

relationships.

In conclusion, the existence of social media not only adds points to people's

resumes, but also enables people who can't find their own place in reality, and

maintaining long-term relationships. Although a minority of individuals point out that

running a social media account seems stressful and harmful to our college life,

objectively speaking, its benefits still unmistakably outperform the negative

consequences.

(Word count: 1160)

Works Cited

Abhishek Karadkar. “The impact of social media on student life” TIAA.org.

Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America, Sep 13, 2015,

https://www.technicianonline.com/opinion/the-impact-of-social-media-on-

student-life/article_d1142b70-5a92-11e5-86b4-cb7c98a6e45f.html

Cal Newport. “Quit Social Media. Your Career May Depend on It.” NYTIMES.com.

The New York Times, November 19, 2016,

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/jobs/quit-social-media-your-career-

may-depend-on-it.html

Patrick Gillooly. “Don’t Quit Social Media. Put It to Work for Your Career Instead.”

NYTIMES.com. The New York Times, December 3, 2016,

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https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/03/jobs/dont-quit-social-media-put-it-to-

work-for-your-career-instead.html

Yang Lan. “The generation that’s remaking China” TED.com. TED Global. July

2011,https://www.ted.com/talks/yang_lan_the_generation_that_s_remaking_c

hina#t-529538