Future Career x Social Media

Since I was a little girl, I remember everyone asking, "What do you want to be when you grow up?". Now the answer may have been difficult for many, but for me, it was simple. Similar to any other little girl, I at first desired to be a princess or a rockstar. Although, once I grew older and was moving into a mature mindset, I realized that my passion in life is to become a lawyer. I have always been the type to stand up for what I believe in and fight for what's right. I liked defending others and helping those who needed it. Anyone who knew me knew that all I ever wanted was to be a lawyer. Now I know that means I'll have to be in school for a couple more years, but I can see my goal at the end of the tunnel and I'm eager to succeed. In the process of becoming a lawyer, I would have to get through both college and law school. In the past, I figured I would have to take boring core classes in college that would have absolutely nothing to do with my major. But in reality, those "boring" classes ended up being very interesting and I realized some of them will help me in my career path. 

For example, in my communications class, we often discuss the topic of social media and how it affects us in certain aspects of the world. The class made me begin to think about how exactly it could help me in my career as a lawyer. When I first thought about this at the beginning of the semester, I thought, "hmm there is no connection between being a lawyer and dealing with social media", but as time went on I realized that social media is often used in the industry I aspire to work in. As the years have gone by technology has become more advanced and society has made a habit of using it more often and efficiently. In the criminal justice industry, social media can be seen as effective when prosecutors or police investigate a criminal's background through their socials and track their interactions online. Social media can mainly be used as criminal evidence in court or to justify a defendant or plaintiff's case. The criminal justice system uses social media apps such as Instagram and Facebook to track communications about rising protests and other social issues. 

Although I won't be pursuing a job in social media management or communications specifically, social media will still play a role in my career or any other career path in the world. The truth is that social media has taken over the world. It affects us all at some point in our lives. How we present ourselves on social media can also have a major impact on the way our colleagues and workforce perceive us. Your future employers can get a glimpse of who you are online and some basic information about your life. You could always keep your personal life private on social media but there are multiple ways for people from work to learn things about you through your social media platforms. As always, I hope you enjoyed this blog and are eager to hear more about my opinion on social media next week!

- VANESSA