I’m not a big social media person, and the only account I have is twitter, which I use very rarely. I recently posted two pictures, one of a Confederate monument and the other of a Union monument which are at a national cemetery I recently visited. It has one like, from a racist Confederate nutso under the name “the South was Right”. Do I have to worry about this like, as if admissions officers hover over it they may see that it was liked by a Confederate racist person, or do officers only care about the content you post and not who liked it?
It really depends on many different factors. If you are applying to selective colleges, something like 65% of reps say they do check social media accounts. Do they check them all? Who knows. Do they check to see who liked something? Doubtful. Are you a rising senior? If so, I would be super careful from now on of anything you post. And given that emblems of the Confederancy are now associated with racism, it’s probably not a great idea to post things related to that. Play it safe.
Thanks for the reply. Do you advise that I keep the tweet and the like or block the person, delete the tweet, and tweet it again?
If you’re really worried about it, just delete the post and don’t retweet it.
Last time I read about reps checking social media, it was more ‘have you?’ than ‘Do you check regularly?’ They’re too busy. They might check some kid who makes extraordinary (or suspicious) claims. But they’d google. (Did he really publish a textbook, lol?)
And all you did was post a pic. What you show in your app, an open attitude and clear thinking, engaging well with others, etc, is far more important.
Not to worry. Just not to worry.
Thanks everyone. I’ve decide not to post anything in the future which could turn into this sort of situation but keep the post.
I have to say, in your shoes, I would just delete it. You were concerned enough about it to post here. Why? Is the post so important, fascinating, interesting, etc…that it needs to stay? Or perhaps you are looking for a little controversy? No doubt @lookingforward is right, but why take a chance if it worries you?
Given recent scandals involving social media and college students, I advise erring on the side of caution.
Yeh, why not? I was responding to your nerves.
Well, when looking up my name on google it is the first thing that pops up, and that tweet shows up (The latest Tweets… "Visited Finn’s Point National Cemetery in South Jersey this past week. Confederate and Union …) so I’m worried it’ll look worse to delete it and have that show up in the search.
You have done nothing wrong. Don’t overthink. You’re new here, so we don’t now where you’re aiming. But even top schools will just assume a young person had an interest in the cemetery and posted photos. You are not responsible for some guy’s response. Better to invest the time in knowing your targets as well as you can, so you can do a good job on the application and any supps. Just make a decision.