Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn are all social platforms that are popular amongst college students.

Twitter, Facebook and Instagram attract the eye and are posted on frequently, whereas LinkedIn is more professional and a place for job hunting.

As students enter college, the social brand they are giving themselves is important. The social brand students give off on social media can affect them as they begin to apply for internships and jobs after their first year of college.

“70 percent of employers now use social media to screen job candidates before hiring them,” according to a study from CareerBuilder posted on business news weekly.

“It’s a personal brand, it’s just being professional with it,” Stefanie Moore, Kent State associate professor, said.

Moore teaches classes in social media and has seen the strength and weaknesses of college students. 

Social media is what many employers will look at for future hires for companies and often times what is posted on a personal social media pages can be brought up in a future interview, or job, Moore said. 

“I think it is really kind of up to your goals and who you are and, and then you choose the channels that best reflect that,” Moore said.  

Some social media platforms are more interactive than others. According to the Pew Research Center, roughly 36 percent of Twitter users are between the age of 18-29, which is the average age range of college students.

Moore states social media can be a place for users to showcase their writing skills, such as blogging.

There are many blog options online that are great for college students: blog.com, Penzu and Tumblr. Each blog site is geared to a certain type of blog but all beneficial for young professionals or college students.

When working on a personal social brand, it’s important to focus on the goals a student is trying to achieve with it, Moore said. She said students should ask themselves, ‘who is the target audience and who do you want to attract with your social media tactics?’

“It really depends on who you want to target and who you want to notice you,” Moore said.

It’s easy to post freely and openly, but Moore helps her students with a small tip: Students shouldn’t post content that they don’t want their grandparents or mothers to see.

Mariel Zambelli is a reporter, contact her at [email protected].