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Promotional Clothing for the Job after the Job

Cartoon Character Charlie Brown Commemorated with Polo Shirt

Wearing Printed T-Shirts In Cairo

Social Media and T-Shirts

Thursday 29th of July 2010 10:36:37 PM

Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have revolutionized online networking. You can join or create a viral loop. That may sound like a disease but it’s really only referring to the fact a network grows by one person letting another person become their “friend” or associate who then invites even more people. The links can grow exponentially and spread throughout the internet and thus the term “viral”.

The phenomenon of social media sites really took a lot of people by surprise. Facebook currently has approximately 500 million members. That equates to 22 percent of all the people accessing the internet. The New York Times reported that 25 billion bits of information are shared every month. That’s a lot of content.

Of course, what some did not realize as they blithely posted pictures and comments on their social networking page and the pages of others is that the information can come back and haunt you in unanticipated ways. Sometimes it’s actually humorous what people are saying. One woman told the NYT (New York Times Magazine, July 25, 2010, p. 32) that she was “afraid of being tagged in online photos because it might reveal she wears only two outfits when out on the town – a Lynryd Skynyrd t-shirt or a basic black dress.” Her point was that she felt like she had to compete with celebrities now since potentially millions of people could look at her pictures. “You have movie-star issues, and you’re just a person.” Of course, she can’t possibly be alone in the world! There are plenty of people whose wardrobe consists primarily of printed t-shirts, but they just don’t want the whole world to know.

There is a dark side to social media sites too as some have found out. People can make rude and insulting comments online or even post outright lies. And there are lots of people who have posted pictures or written comments about themselves they wish they could take back. Potential employers will check your online presence and reputation and those pictures of revelry can cost you a job.

The full impact of social networking is just being realized, and that is still considered a good thing. Just be sure that the t-shirt printing in the pictures doesn’t embarrass you and you’ll be safe….for now.

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